Alternate Universe
by TarunaRei
Summary: [UNDER CONSTRUCTION and HAITUS] A story if you like them when it's mainly about some OCs. It's about a girl, Rei, and her friend, Jin, along with others.
1. Graduation Then Invitation

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Chapter 1

Graduation Then Invitation

The sun was peeking over the horizon and poured into Rei's window. She turned around to avoid the light. _Uuuugh, I don't wanna go to the academy today, but when do I ever want to go? _She lay there a bit longer thinking to herself.

She finally brought herself to get up and got dressed. Looking at the time, she hurriedly packed her things and glanced into the mirror. _I'm a mess. Shit and I'm already late. Ha! The school can wait! I'll just have to run faster! Ha ha! _She laughed at her thoughts and combed her hair real fast. She was wearing a shirt with a metal plate over it and a black sweater she kept open over that. Her jeans were simple enough. Rei untangled her hair; her hair was black and trailed about halfway down her back. Putting the comb down after cursing at it, she grabbed her bag and ran for her life to school. _Jeeeez, and to think I could've brought a snack or anything? _Jin, a dark sand hair colored boy with simple clothes and was so called "a little cute" by some classmates, was walking down the path to the academy as Rei passed by. She glanced at him and grabbed his arm.

"Can't you take care of yourself anymore?" Rei joked.

"Haha, now I'll let you know that I can clearly take care of mys—ah!" Jin was cut off as they rounded a sharp corner. _Can she be anymore…evil? I can't even think of a word to describe her as! Maybe stubborn, but caring, rude, but nice, dumb, but smart. Damn, she has a weird personality now to think of it._ They both ran into the academy and Rei made it on time, but after dragging Jin about halfway there.

"What about those seats?" Rei asked pointing to some middle-row seats. Jin shrugged, he didn't really care. They walked to their seats and sat down. Fortunately for them, they still had some time left until class actually started. Rei grabbed for her one-strap bag and grabbed a notebook with a pen hooked to it.

"Is that all you do?" Jin asked. He was a little tired of her constant drawing habits.

"Nyeh, you're just jealous," Rei said sticking out her tounge while opening her book to a page and started doodling. Her drawings were pretty good and were a hobby of hers that liked to do. Jin was about to counter with another question, but at that moment Iruka stepped into the room. He walked to his desk and slammed his hand on the desk to get everyone's attention.

"Now, for the graduation exam, you will do the bunshin no jutsu. When you are called, come to the next room," Iruka said as he pointed his hand to the back room, and went to the back room after calling a student's name.

"Heh! This should be easy!" Jin said happily.

"Speak for yourself! I still get it right only half the time!" Rei said, burying her face in her arms.

"Maybe you shoulda have practiced more!"

"I'm trying to think,"

"You mean trying to go to sleep?"

"Shut up, and heads up! One of your fan girls is heading here," Rei finished. _How the heck could she tell that if she can't see anything but that desk? _Jin thought as he turned around to see a girl with her hair in a braid.

"Um, hey," Jin said.

"Hello! I was wondering if I could sit here?" she said, pointing to the seat next to him.

"Oh, sure,"

She sat down and cast a glance at a boy with a blue shirt and spiky hair. _Damn, why does every one like that idiot? Always slouching and acting like he knows all. Freakin hate that guy. I don't care if he's the last Uchiha member! _Rei thought, glaring at Sasuke while putting away her notebook.

"Anyway, my name is Suchino Harimaru, but just call me Hari," Hari said as she turned her attention back to Jin.

"Nice to meet you, I'm-,"

"Oimashita Jinsanu!" Iruka called.

"Uh, sorry, we'll continue after this. See yah later!" Jin said and stared heading for the back room. Hari looked after him and then turned to Rei.

"Hello, you're al-"

"Are you a Jin or Sasuke idiot?" Rei interrupted her.

"Oh! Um, I'm sure I'm no idiot! But, I was saying that you're always hanging around Jin-kun, aren't you? Well, I just want to tell you that he's mine! Oh, and you should stay away from all the Sasuke girls,"

"What? Why do I have to stay away from them?" Rei asked a bit astonished. She usually was able to talk to any of them. Hari giggled.

"Now, if I told you why, then what would be the fun in that?" she said and got up, deciding to sit somewhere else. Rei stared at Sasuke. _What did he do?_

"Haruno Sakura," Iruka called. Sasuke turned his head and Rei saw that he started returning her with a glare and _was…is that?...no…I must be going mental…_Rei thought and hurriedly turned her head away. She started looking around at the remaining class. There was that Shino guy in a jacket with a high caller at the way end there and then there was that chubby guy, Chouji, and Shikamaru, the lazy kid, and other people she forgot the names to. She didn't know much of any of them. She wasn't very social and usually just went looking around the village.

"Rei," Iruka called. Rei came from an orphanage and never has been adopted, and for some reason no one seemed to want to. So there, she never really had another name. _Oh great! I hafta hurry and remember what I was supposed to do! Um, ..oh yeah! Bunshin!_ She entered the back room and saw a table covered in leaf head protectors. Her eyes twinkled at the sight of these. Now it hit her on how important this was. _I'm going to soooo get one today! _She made a stance.

"_Bunshin no Jutsu!_" She felt like she did it, but she couldn't tell. Did she make it? Rei didn't dare open her eyes yet…

"Pass! Congratulations Rei!" Iruka said. She opened her eyes and saw that her other two clones looked happy and puffed away as Rei ran up to the table and took a head band. Bowing quickly and saying, "Domo arigatou!" she ran out the back door into the yard. There was already a group of families congratulating they're sons or daughters. Some were still waiting for they're offspring. Rei sighed, no one was waiting for her. No nice compliments from relatives. No hugs from a family. Nothing.

"Heh, oh well. Get over it you idiot," she said to herself. She walked away from the crowd , she hated big crowds, and onto the grass as she tried on her head band. She decided to wear it covering her head. _Hehe, it feels funny_. She did a back flip and looked through the crowd for Jin. There he was, with his older twin brothers. They're parents were killed by the kyuubi. All they had was each other.

"Oi! Rei! Over here!" One of the twins, Masura, waved over at her. Rei smiled and ran toward them. They always treated her as if she were family. Rei usually teased the twins by calling them Fred and George. They seemed exactly like the twins in Harry Potter. Sometimes she even called Jin Ron every time he messed up somehow. Rei joined the group and was greeted by Congratulations.

"Hey, it was easy!" Rei said happily.

"Right, you just got lucky," Jin said.

"You know what? We should all go out to eat somewhere! It'll be Masura and mine's treat!" Hizume suggested, putting his arm around Masura's shoulder. Before Rei could answer yes, a voice called from behind them.

"Jin-kun! You passed!" Hari ran up a literally glomped Jin, "Of course, I knew you'd make it!"

"Uhh, thanks," Jin said nervously. No one actually glomped him before.

"Hey, looks like our Jin is quite the lady man," Hizume whispered to Masura.

"Maybe he could give us some tips," Masura whispered back. Rei rolled her eyes. _Boys_.

"Maybe we can go out somewhere, Jin-kun!" Hari asked sweetly.

"Sorry, I already have plans for tonight. Perhaps tomorrow?" Jin said. Hari started getting off and walked away saying,

"Ok, It's a date!"

Everyone just stood there in silence for a little while.

"Anyway, what about that 'go out to eat' offer?" Rei asked.


	2. Waitress’s Admirer

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Chapter 2

A Waitress's Admirer

"So, anyway, where are we going to eat?" Rei asked as they walked down Konoha's streets. There were people hurrying by, going into shops, and kids running around. There was a mix of good smells coming from nearby food stands. This was the place where they grew up, they grew up with these familiar faces, with the hyper kids. Nothing could compare to their peaceful village.

"Well, we can go to that place up the street. I hear that theres an all-you-can-eat buffet there!" Masura suggested, pointing ahead of them.

"That sounds fun! I'm in!" Jin said, sniffing the air. Everything seemed to be twice as good, now that they were shinobi.

"Ok, me too!" Rei piped up. There then was an uncomfortable silence. _Wait, _

…_Something evil is going to happen! I know this silence_ she thought.

"I was wondering when you guys are going to couple up! I mean, now is the best time as ever! Seeing that Jin here is already about to go on a date tomorrow! Aren't you the least bit jealous, Rei? That girl is moving in on your guy!" Hizume taunted.

"BAKA!" both Jin and Rei hit him with a vicious punch to the head.

"You seriously think I want him? He's too stupid for me," Rei said, with a nerve mark and crossing her arms.

"Besides, she's too bossy and scary for me," Jin said shrugging. Hizume started rubbing his head. _Man, that actually hurt._

"Hehe, I knew that'd happen. I won the bet," Masura said, nudging his twin. Hizume grunted as he gave him a couple of coins. _Next time, I'm going to do worst if he brings up anything like that! And they call themselves chuunins?_ Rei thought, rolling her eyes.

When they made it to the restaurant, Rei looked up at the title.

"_Chikoya Dinesty?_ What kind of place is this?" She asked, astonished at how huge the place seem to be as they crept forward into the tall building.

"Dunno! Never been here!" Hizume said joyfully, folding his arms behind his head. Jin and Rei slowly turned their heads to him and Masura.

"I thought you guys said that this place had great food!"

"Well, that's what we heard!" Masura said defensively. Just as Jin was about to throw another retort at him, a waitress calmly came over in an apron, had brown hair that softly rested on her shoulders, and narrow looking eyes with an upside-down red triangle resting on both of her cheeks. She walked toward them at the entrance, smiling at them.

"Excuse me, is this a party of four?" The waitress asked politely. Now thinking of it, thought Hizume, she IS kind of….cute. As he was thinking this he nervously nodded, blushing.

"Now may I show you where your seats are?" She asked, not noticing how nervous he looked.

Hizume just nodded, now daring to look up again. As the waitress started walking through a maze of tables and chairs filled with people, Hizume shuffled his feet. Masura looked over at him, immediately knowing something was going on with him.

"Hey, something wrong?" Masura whispered to him, softly nudging him on Hizume's side. He didn't answer back, but just looked at him as if all his worries suddenly lifted. Masura looked take-a-back and just gulped, deciding so ask him again when they sit down. Rei and Jin exchanged looks off curiosity and worry.

"Here is where your table is, just ring that bell over there," the waitress pointed to a bell at the end of the table, " and I'll come right away to take your order!" She finished, leaving with a smile. Everyone shifted into the seats. Jin sitting with Rei on the right and Masura on the left. When Hizume didn't sit down right away, they noticed him staring at the waitress shuffling through the maze of tables once again.

"Hey, Hizume, you okay?" Masura asked, arching an eyebrow. Hizume nodded as he took his seat next to Hizume.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you have a thing for the waitress!" Jin said, taking his revenge. As he said this, Hizume perked his head up in shock, blushing.

" Is it really that obvious?" He nervously asked.

"Bro, I know you like the back of my hand!" Jin said while showing him the back of his hand to prove it.

"Oh, you don't think she hates me do you? Did you see how she just left in such a hurry like that? Maybe it's something I said?"

" Uh, hate to brake it to yah but you DIDN'T say anything!" Rei said emphasizing on the last half of her statement. Hizume surprisingly took it really bad and started digging his fingers into his head.

"I knew it! That's why she already hates me!" At this, Masura nervously smiled, sweat-dropping at him.

"Hey! Don't sweat it! I think she probably thinks it's cute!...Yah!" he said, patting his twin on the back gently.

"And this is coming from a person who has never dated or even DANCED with someone in his whole life?" Jin asked, causing Rei to chuckle.

"Oh yeah! I'd feel MUCH better!" she added in sarcastically.

"Neither have YOU two!" Masura shot back. Jin looked at Rei and suddenly said, holding out a hand while imitating a lower tone, " Why, madam, would you care to dance?" Rei played in, " Why, dear! I'd be delighted!" she said, taking his hand as they very un-professionally danced around right beside the table.

" Hey! That doesn't count!" Masura crossly said.

"Guys, should I go ask her what her name is?" Hizume asked sounding helpless.

"I think you should ask her on a DATE!" Rei said as her and Jin sat down in their seats once again.

"Bu-but, that'd be UBSURD!"

"Woah! What's with the big words?" Masura asked.

"Don't talk about her so carelessly!"

" Hizume, you don't have to be so…so protective!" Jin said picking up the menu. Hizume blushed at the thought of being protective about her, and instead of saying something else, decided to pick up the menu and look for his order. Masura and Rei looked at each other and shrugged as they picked up their own menus.

After a while there was a scary-ishly long silence. As the seconds drew on by, the silence got thicker. Everyone at that table became more and more uncomfortable until Jin gathered the guts to talk, trying not to upset Hizume again.

"Uh…so is everyone done yet?" He asked nervously. Everyone just decided to nod and Rei reached for the button, pressing it. There was a soft ring and the waitress started scuffling toward them once more. She picked out a small pad and pen.

"So, what will your order be?" She asked. Masura answered with his order, followed by Jin and Rei's. As the waitress finished writing down Rei's order, she glanced up at Hizume. Hizume was tongue-tied. He wanted to ask her name, but he thought it may be rude. Masura softly nodged Hizume. He whispered in his ear, "Yoh, she wants your order…you know? The food you want from the menu?" Apparently, something clicked in Hizume's mind as he suddenly softened his face into a smile.

" Sir? May I please have what you want?" She asked not really knowing what he was thinking. _Is he going nuts? Or is it some disease?... must be very_ _emotional _she decided.

"May I know your name?" Hizume asked in his sweatest tone. This made the girl chuckle.

"Hana, yours?"

"Hizume,"

"So….what's your order again?"

"Oops, I'm sorry, I completely forgot to tell you when you told me your beautiful name, unlike mines,"

"Oh, I wouldn't completely say that!" Hana said, chuckling again at his last comment. As this conversation continued, Jin whispered, "When did Hizume come up with this stuff?" Masura shrugged, equally puzzled.

"Maybe you rubbed off on him," Rei whispered back. Jin sweat-dropped and then shrugged, "Well, one thing is for sure, we won't get our order for a while until they realize that the world won't wait around forever." Rei nodded, also sweat-dropping.

"A-men to that, bro," Masura said, agreeing with Jin.


	3. A Cry in the Night

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Chapter 3

A Cry in the Night

"You got her number?" Masura said to Hizume as they walked out of the restaurant.

"You bet I did! I can't wait to use it tomorrow!" Hizume said, waving a piece of paper in his hand, obviously containing the number. He was walking and talking rather…drunkishly.

"Pleeeeeease tell me she has a twin sister I can meet!"

"No, but she DOES have a little brother, think she said he was about as old as you two, Jin," Hizume said looking at the two trailing behind them. Jin cocked his head to the side,

"Really? I don't think there was anyone in our class with those markings." Rei immediately dumped the idea of being friends with this guy. If his sister was like that, then surely the brother was some real nerd that loved cats and acted very much like a girl. _He'd probably be gay _Rei chuckled at the thought. Of course, probably everything but the gay part was for sure right, according to her. She started tousling her raven black hair in her hands as she started thinking deeper into the topic, not noticing anything or anyone around her.

As the group of four friends walked out of the restaurant all happily talking, there stood two tall figures staring down at them….more pacifically the girl. The sky grew dark around them, shading them from sight. The wind howled and carried the early autumn leaves. The two figures standing on the near by building had wide hats with white strips dangling from them tangled in with a bell on a string.

"Is that the girl?" The taller of the two asked. The shorter one nodded and took out a little nicely folded note,

"It's time I put my brother to thinking of his past again."

The doorknob turned as the door swung open into his apartment. The window was opened, letting the drapes flow on the wind. He quietly walked over to his window and put his hands on the window sill, looking outside onto the dark deserted street apart from a cat rummaging through a trashcan.

Uchiha Sasuke closed his window and his eye caught sight of a note with the emblem of his clan on the corner of it. He picked it up from his living room table and turned on the light from his lamp. He was overcome by a wave of mixed up emotions and blasts from his past. There he sat; staring at the note, at one name, the one signature of the one man he wished had never lived.

He rushed over at the window and slammed the window open, clutching the note tightly with his fist. He did the first thing that came to his mind as he realized his brother was in his apartment. He yelled through the still night, cutting the silence,

"_**Itachi!"**_

A scream broke through the still night that awoke Rei from her sleep. She tossed over in her bed, causing her to look at the two framed photos of her mom and dad, and her brother sitting on her nightstand. Her room was drenched in total darkness, exactly as she liked it. She was now in her own realm from where anyone would stumble into, they would trip over her dirty clothes that littered her bedroom floor. She stared back at her family. Her mind immediately flashed back into her past….

_A young Rei about seven lay motionless in a hospital bed in the hospital. Bandaged around her head were long white bandages with them around her arm, and neck. Next to her bed was a monitor of her life signs. The door opened as her nurse entered the room to do her round of daily check up on her. Rei started moving her head, and forced her eyes open, and stared into the sun bathed ceiling. She moved her head at the nurse writing on a clipboard._

"_Where am I?" she wearily asked the nurse. The nurse looked up at her and softened her eyes as she sat down on a chair next to her, holding Rei's hand in her own. _

"_You'll have to listen carefully, ok," she sighed as if she was quiet sad about something, " Well, you have lost your memory from the past years of your life to when you were two months old. You've lost your memory because of an unfortunate accident. Your mom and dad, your only brother along with you went into the woods to camp. Where your family camped wasn't the best place, and so your family was ambushed by a band of recently escaped prisoners. By the time our people got there and captured the prisoners, your family had died, but one of them must've thought you died, since you were barely just holding on by a string of life. Your head was sitting next to a bloody rock, so we suppose that you were hit against it, causing your memory to wipe out," She said, taking in a breath of air. It took Rei a couple of minutes to comprehend this new information._

"_Are you all right, deary?" the nurse asked, still holding her hand. Rei nodded and asked, "What were they like?"_

From there she was schooled in the hospital roomed for months as she healed and was caught up with everything she was supposedly supposed to know. So then there lay Rei, thinking into her past again. She felt a little guilty that she didn't feel sad about her family dieing really. She guessed it made sense, seeing that she didn't remember anything about them personally. Rei layed there for 5 more minutes staring into the faces of her family until she felt the pull of her eye bags for her to sleep, so she put her hand to her lips and onto the two photos saying, "Good night mother, father, brother."

The following morning Rei woke up to faint sizzling from downstairs…from her kitchen. She tossed her head over and hid her face under her pillows. Deciding that it'd be better to get up and see what it was, she sat up in bed, hair flying everywhere. From there, she swung her feet over to the side of her bed. Rei stood up and started wearily walking downstairs. When she reached her kitchen, there she saw Hizume cooking and singing a merry melody. As she glanced over around the kitchen, Masura was sitting down calmly reading a book. Jin was, of course, raiding the fridge for breakfast.

No one in Konoha besides Jin, Masura, Hizume, and Rei knew that those four lived together. Rei didn't dare tell anyone. Everyone already had the impression that Rei liked Jin and him back, and if they knew they lived in the same house, than that would just confirm their theories. Jin didn't tell anyone because he'd thought his fan club would dump him and go for Sasuke. That reminded her…

"Hey! Jin! Don't you have that date with what's-her-name?" Rei said, as she skidded the chair open and sat in it. Jin popped his head from the pantry and rushed to the phone, ruffling for something in his pocket, "Oh crap! I forgot! I'm gonna hafta cancel it and tell her later!"

"Really? Why? I thought you LOVED going on dates!" Rei asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I invited Hana-chan and her brother over for some dinner!" Hizume piped, explaining the reason why he was cooking and singing too. Rei slammed her head on the table. How come she never had a say in anything? All she heard was Jin talking his mouth off so quick, it scared her. Then another topic came into mind.

"Uh, our teams are assigned to us today, right? Hope I get s-"Rei started but got cut off when Jin immediately hung the phone up and said very loud and clearly, "SASUKE!" Then he started chortling at his own joke. Rei stood up and hit him very hard off the head, her normal reaction.

"You know VERY well I HATE Uchiha!

When Rei and Jin set off toward the academy, talking about who they wanted to be on their team. Jin was mostly talking. Rei glanced over at some ally way while Jin started blabbering something about all the reasons to ignore Naruto. She disliked Jin and everyone else for hating him. He always made everyone laugh, even if it was something absurd like the Sexy no Jutsu. As she got lost in her thoughts she saw a box that seemed to be moving. It was probably rats.

When the two finally arrived at the academy and took their normal seats, Iruka came out and started announcing teams. Through out the whole thing, Rei doodled on in her notebook, thinking _Nope…dunno who they are….what should I draw?...Maybe I should get a dog one day …_When finally she realized she heard someone's name she DID know:

"Team 12," Iruka boomed, "Oimashita Jinsanu," Rei felt Jin stiffening and praying very badly for, it seems to be, a certain someone or maybe someone not to be on his team. " Zairyu Kako" The young boy smiled warmly at Jin. He had jet black hair with tints of a dark rosemary color that wrapped around his face, cutting off at the shoulders. He looked very mature and older than everyone else at the academy. Also tall, and had a gentleman kind of personality. "And the last remaining team member is….,"


	4. Loud and Demure

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Chapter 4

Loud and Demure

"Rei!" Iruka finished. Rei looked at him in surprise and immediately hoped that she misheard him, but as everyone glanced at her, she knew that it was her. Rei slowly shifted her eyes toward Jin and thought she saw rejoice in his eyes, then at Kako a few rows lower, he was smiling the sweetest smile she had seen on his face. _Hmmm, kinda…cool _She thought, making up in her mind that it wasn't a completely bad team. Iruka finished reading off the names for the teams, which ended at team 15. Everyone rushed out the doors to talk to their friends.

Rei noticed Naruto trying to talk to some groups of kids, but couldn't really talk before he got kicked out. Rei told Jin to go ahead to the house, making up the excuse that she was going to stop by the store later. Jin, like his twin brothers, hated shopping so he hurried off towards the house. As Naruto finally gave up trying to talk to a group with Hari in it, he sighed and was about to leave, hunching his shoulders up. Before Naruto got the time to take no more than three steps, Rei ran up to him.

"Yo! Naruto!" Rei said, slowing to a halt behind Naruto. The blonde perked his head up and turned around.

"Yeah? If your gonna insult me or something the-," Naruto started, still not fully turning around, still hunching shoulders.

"NO! Nothing like that! Just wanted to…I dunno, talk?" Rei stated. At this Naruto turned around with a grin in his face. Rei felt the stares and probably awful rumors going around as the people noticed. She could feel their stares and glares shooting straight through her soul. It felt horrible. She respected Naruto for standing this all his life.

"About the teams? OK! You know, I got Sakura-chan! Bad part is the Sasuke is in it too and Sakura-chan likes him," Naruto started talking, with his little fox grin. The fox grin was what he looked like when his eyes were closed and either talking or deeply thinking about something…or dumb-founded. As this happened, Rei took the chance to stare back at the others still talking about them. She threw them a glare that she thought was perfect, and by their reactions, seem to be perfect. Something about it seemed familiar as the Sasuke-fan girls looked up and busily started talking again seeming curious and worried. Then she turned back to Naruto.

"Don't like Sasuke, ne?" She taunted, she knew very well he hated Sasuke.

"Course I do! Where have YOU been lately? Now don't tell me you LIKE him!"

"Oh KAMI! You seriously think I like HIM? He's way to quiet and acts as if everyone is below him! Even though it's kind of true," Rei said.

"There's no WAY he's better than me! I could kick his ass anytime!" Naruto said, and both stared at Sasuke leaning against a fence, watching everyone talk and seemed deep in thought about something himself.

"Cold,"

"Hearted,"

"Bitch!" called both Rei and Naruto. Then they looked at each other surprisingly and blinked twice. Naruto let out a snort, and Rei burst out laughing.

"Ok! I thought I was the only one that labeled him THAT!" Rei laughed. By now, Naruto started laughing with her, causing some more glares from the groups, and even making one group move past them and decided to talk somewhere less….crowded.

"No way! You know, I think that's the first time I EVER did something like that!" Naruto said.

"Same here! That was comical!" Rei said, and as she pulled herself back together again, she glanced at everyone either glaring or having that I-feel-sorry-for-you look on…all besides one girl. She had short black hair with pearl white eyes, half hiding behind a wall, looking at them. Rei thought she was looking as if she wished she could talk to them too, but seemed too shy. "One second Naruto…," Rei said, starting to walk over to the girl as mostly everyone started leaving. "Hello there!" Rei said as she was in front of her. The girl blushed while she said a little, "H-hello."

"Would you like to come and talk with Naruto and me?" Rei asked, smiling. It was kind of hard being nice and giving the impression that you were a person you could trust. Then the thought struck her. _Naruto and me…NARUTO and me!_ She was afraid that maybe this girl hated him too. Oops.

"I-I would like tha-that very much!" The girl exclaimed and started following Rei to Naruto, which was looking curiously and kind of stupidly at them. As they met up, Naruto blinked at the girl. _Wow! Another person wants to talk to me! Maybe it's because I'm a genin like everyone else now! _Naruto thought.

"What's your name? Mines is Rei and you should know Naruto here," Rei said warmly at Hinata.

"I-I'm Hyuuga Hinata, main family," the shy girl said, blushing at talking to Naruto and Rei.

"Cool! I didn't know you were a Hyuuga!" Naruto exclaimed at her. Hyuugas were always acknowledged.

"Who's on your team?" Rei asked curiously.

"Kiba-kun and Shino-kun," Hinata said, and after that, they talked the day away. As the conversation advanced, Hinata seemed to be more and more open to them. Rei was happy to have found new friends, and Naruto was just happy to HAVE any friends. Rei noticed it was getting dark when the last of the group of Sasuke fan girls went away as Sasuke rushed off somewhere.

"Uh, sorry guys, I have to get back to my house, it's getting kind of dark and I've got some guests coming over for supper," Rei said, looking at the slowly darkening sky. Hinata nodded in agreement and said she'd better get home before her family started worrying where she went to, and seeing Naruto was left alone, he decided to go to his one hangout: The Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

Rei hurriedly changed into some of her nice clothes when she got back to the house and rushed downstairs to smell a banquet of food. It smelled delicious! As she looked over the table there were chicken breast, ramen in a bowl, rice, onigiri, some other oriental food she didn't even know, and some biscuits. The table seemed to glow, but Rei was snapped out of her daze as the doorbell rang. There was a clatter of noise upstairs followed by a curse. Hizume was probably in the middle of putting on his pants and tripped over in his hurry. Masura was lighting the candles at the table as Jin started darkening the lights.

"Guess I'll get it then," Rei said as she walked toward the door. As she opened the door, sure enough there was Hizume's guest and her brother as Rei saw standing next to her. As she let Hana and her brother in, she blinked at the boy as he walked by. He was nothing at ALL what she thought he'd be. She closed the door behind them as Hana started saying they really shouldn't have gone through all the trouble. The boy seemed un-impressed but staring hungrily at the chicken in the middle of the table. Rei stood there for a moment inspecting the guy. He had a grey hood on, hands in pocket and his jacket was rimmed with black fluff at the hood and sleeves. The strangest part was the little white dog with smudges of brown on its ears that sat on the boy's head. Hizume hurried downstairs and took out a chair for Hana at one end of the table, and sat diagonally to her right. Masura decided taking the other side of her would be good to hear what Hizume and Hana talked to each other about. The boy sat next to Masura, with Jin opposite him. Rei absent-mindedly sat next to the boy.

As everyone prayed respects and started eating, the boy put his dog in his lap and immediately went for the chicken. Rei kind of chuckled at it. Al lot of things amused her and her thoughts were on people that everyone was stupid and weird, just at different levels. As she saw Hizume stare lovingly at Hana, she noticed that the whole table seemed to be set up to be a romantic environment. Rei quietly ate at her food. About fifteen minutes flew by and the only ones who talked were the three fifteen year olds. Then quiet unexpectedly, Hana called over at her brother.

"Kiba, can you pass me the butter please?"


	5. In The End, It was worth it

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Chapter 5

In The End, It was worth it

Kiba passed the butter to his sister and continued eating his meal.

"Kiba? That means you're on a girl named Hinata's team, right?" Rei took the advantage of a good conversation starter. Kiba nodded in response. "What do you think of her and your other team mate, Shino?" Kiba shrugged, swallowing a bite.

"Shino is kind of annoyingly like Sasuke when it comes to how much he thinks of himself. He actually does seem kind of smart, I'll give him that, but he thinks too importantly about himself. Oh, and he's a bug freak as far as I know," Kiba said, looking at Rei and Jin. Jin watched back at him.

"And Hinata?" Rei asked.

"WAY TOO DEMURE! I think she's kind of spoiled since she's in the Hyuuga main family, and even though she doesn't show it, and she seems so WEAK!" Kiba boasted, and burst laughing at his last comment. Rei could hear fire burn and her lungs hummed with a deep growl. She didn't really know how she did it; she was the only one she knew that could. Kiba looked at her with an expression that read what's-your-problem?

"How DARE you talk about Hinata that way! She's a really nice person!"

"That's how she was TAUGHT to be!" Kiba said, rolling his eyes and carelessly eating a little more chicken. Rei, on instincts, stood up and clenched her fists.

"She is NOT weak, and if so, she IS trying to become stronger! You'll be surprised at how much she trains each morning and what her family is like!" Kiba took this as an argument and stood up also, staring into Rei's eyes. He loomed over her by an inch or so, but that didn't shake Rei off.

"Oh yeah, I BET it's hard to command a servant on hand and foot!"

"SERVENTS? SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY SERVENTS! SHE'S TREATED MORE LIKE A SERVENT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!"

"TREATED LIKE A SERVENT? SHE SHOULD BE TREATED MORE LIKE DIRT IF YOU ASK ME!"

"DIRT?" Rei yelled at him. By now, Hana was worriedly looking at Rei giving an apology look. Hizume looked worried, Masura annoyed and rolling his eyes, and Jin cocking his head to the side: Jin didn't know who Hinata was.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME DUMB-ASS?" Kiba revolted. _Dumb-ass? _Rei thought. _He called me a dumb-ass? _Rei was surprised at how hurtful this sounded. She liked mentally arguing with mean insults, but dumb-ass never crossed her mind. In surprise, she didn't notice that she was looking very much hurt. _And to think that I thought he was gonna be cool! _She felt tears about to burst, but she forced them back. She could never cry. She'll prove how strong she was. Apparently, everyone else was affected by this outburst too. They all looked positively surprised and Hana furious. Even Kiba looked surprised. Either it was from his outburst or how Rei's defenses seem to crumble, or maybe both.

Rei's knees started shaking and she felt like she was going to bitch-slap him. Instead, she gathered herself together and looked straight into his eyes, giving a glare that was better than earlier that day. Instead of a bitch-slap, she punched him by the side of his face, causing Kiba off guard and fall down on his but. Rei was about to run upstairs into her room, but instead took off through the back door. The last she heard was, "Kiba! How could you?" "But she PUNCHED me! She didn't just SLAP!" "I think you deserved it!"

"Uh…who's Hin…?"

Rei ran, heading for the Academy for some reason. Maybe it was just because it was a big building with a nice roof. Where she could lay down and stare at the moon and stars. These thoughts calmed her down, and she slowed to a walk. As she came across two couple leaning on each other, obviously drunk, she felt very peaceful. She crossed the undisturbed lake; it's as if there was a complete loneliness inside of her. Instead of the academy, she picked that little lake shrouded in forest. She felt so at peace, sitting on the grass and staring into the lake with the reflection of a half moon in it. Here she could gather her thoughts and pull herself together.

_Aaaaaahhhh, this feels so peaceful. That Kiba dude is so hurtful1! And to think… No, wait, he just argued with me and was actually the first one to hurt me mentally…or my heart. Now I can't remember which was which. _She could feel her hair swaying in the wind. The grass under her was now flattened into a bed-ish like surface. She gently closed her eyes and faced the sky.

"Kami, if you can hear me, there is one question I'd like answered: Why of all times, must I feel so lonely now?" Almost as if on cue, she looked across the lake to see a dark blue figure across the lake. She could make out that it was probably an animal, probably a dog from the look and how she saw a tail swishing behind it.

"It's** not so un-usual to feel lonely, especially you right now. Your problem will soon be solved along with more happiness, but don't get too excited. Strange things come in strange ways**" It was obviously a women's voice now. Her voice licked of amusement for some reason though, and she swore she heard a chuckle coming from it. Wait_…when did animals talk? _Before Rei could get another look at it, it disappeared as fast as it came. Whatever it was.

After some while, she declared that it was her imagination playing tricks on her. She guessed that's what happened when she got overly emotional. Sure that Hana and her wretched brother was gone, she steadily walked back to the house, still a bit in the dark of how she felt. She just felt a bit confused, and still very depressed. She skipped right past the anger and sadness stages.

Rei dragged her feet to the house as she went by houses, restaurants, ally ways, and shops. She was walking down the street from which Jin and her took earlier to get to the academy when she heard whimpering coming from an ally way. A very familiar ally way too. Rei turned her head, scared that it might be Kiba or just pissed off if it was anyone really. She couldn't handle people at the moment. She slowly took a kunai out on instincts and through one at the feet of whatever made the whimpering noise. _Whimpering…wait…is it someone that needs help?_ Her emotions and attitude changed enormously as she cautiously talked into the darkness, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

All that replied was some rustling of cardboard and curious and excited yips. Rei took another kunai out-just in case. Her eyes softened as she saw what little creature had come out of the shadows. Putting back her kunai into her holster case, she reached out for the little fluff ball of a puppy and picked it up. This one looked like a Labrador, but was black. The puppy was very happy as it wagged its tail back and forth. When was the last time this dog has ever seen someone? Rei slowly and carefully took it into her left arm, and felt its ribs. Obviously, it hasn't eaten for days. With her other arm, she took out a flashlight from her back pouch and shined it into the darkness. There wasn't only one dog, but four others in a cardboard box! They were all looking up at her as if they were as lonely as her. _No…I'm not lonely anymore,_

Rei placed the black Labrador into the box and then lifted the whole box. For a moment, she couldn't see or walk because all the puppies were shuffling around in the box and some reached over and happily licked at her face.

"Stop! That tickles! And we have to get to my place so you guys can eat something! You all looked starved!" Rei managed between giggles. When they got into the house, Rei found out that carrying a box of five puppies half a mile was really tiring. She had a hassle on opening the door and more hassle getting them upstairs. When she finally did make them up there, she thanked Kami that Hizume made her pick up her room before Hana and mutt-boy came over. Rei set down her litter of puppies, and the puppies immediately started running around her room or crawling under her two story bed.

"Now don't run off while I'm gone, ok?" Rei said as she securely closed her door and went downstairs for bowls of milk and anything else she could find them to eat. She was relieved earlier to see that everyone decided to go to sleep and that everything was put back to normal. _What am I gonna say in the morning? Should I act normal? When should I tell them about the pups?_ Rei thought as she stepped up the stairs and into the room. She had to run back down for a second carton of milk. After the puppies all ate, they were filled with milk and felt sleepy. Rei layed some extra pillows and pillows from the living room on the floor around the bottom bunk bed. She slowly hauled the sleepy dogs onto the bottom bunk. After she had, they all fell asleep quite peacefully and all looked very sweet sleeping there. Rei was over happy to have something to occupy herself besides becoming a genin. Now she was booked. She looked over at the battered box that said rather scribbled: Free puppies. Now she had a good chance to look at all of them.

The first one she saw was the black Labrador retriever. She wondered what kind of people could've been leaving five puppies in an ally way.The lab was a boy and seemed the youngest out of them. She thought that a nice green leather collar would make him look good. _Sunao. _

The next one was a, what looked like, German Shepard dog. She seemed like every other German Shepard she saw, but had a friendly look on her face. She looked like the oldest and Rei decided on a silk scarf with a flower pinned on it. _Ankara._

The third dog was for sure a Dalmatian. The spots on him looked completely like him and couldn't be mistaken for any other kind. This one looked like the third youngest. Maybe a red collar with a medal in the front with spots of yellow dotted around it. _Zehi_

The fourth and fifth both looked like they were collies. Well, more pacifically Shetland Sheepdogs. The third oldest was the female twin. She was a pretty little dog with long black hair where brown would be on a collie. She would have a silk scarf, too. The male one was grey with dark bluish grey dots and brown around the back of his eyes like his sister. Great, another twin. Maybe a collar that had some Kanji on it. _Fuyu and Natsu._

Great_, that took care of all of them. Now, to sleep myself! It's already 1:00 a.m.? _Rei rushed in bed and turned off the lights, blessing her family and finally dozing off. In the end, it was almost worth getting mad at Kiba to get to the dogs.


	6. Only a Photo

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Chapter 6

Only a Photo

Sasuke lay in his bed, still awake. When did his brother get into his apartment and leave that note? In his hand, he held one thing in his hand. It was a silk scarf that had the emblem of the Uchiha sewn on both ends. The silk scarf that once belonged to his sibling. Outside his window, it was early morning. Some birds started chirping outside. Morning dew was dripping off the trees and dropping onto the cold ground.

The Uchiha lay there, tousling the scarf around in his hand, almost lovingly. The note was sitting on his beside table. That note brought him grief, sorrow, but even joy. He was not sure what to do. Yesterday he leaned against the fence, trying to figure out who it is. They said they were in the village, but he probably didn't know them, and how was he supposed to recognize them when he did see them? Maybe he'll go around town asking people about her. That would possibly work, hopefully, or else he's going to have to go to drastic measures he'd rather not think about at the moment. Yah, when he heard the people walking down the streets, he'll get up and grab the latest photo of her and go asking around. He sighed at this. This was going to take up all day. Oh well, he still had about an hour left till sunrise.

At the moment, a group of four walked into the town. Three of them were young, only around thirteen. One was a girl that had long hair that tied up in two buns with hair dangling off them. She wore a black skirt of some sort and leather pads on the lower par of her legs and arms, and her eyes were dazzling sapphire eyes.

One of the boys wore a brownish robe that reached only to his waist and wore a normal pair of pants. Something about him made him seem respectful. Though, as they stopped on the top of the hill, he rather clumsily almost tripped over his own feet. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe and tried to look wisely at the village. His eyes were a soul full looking pale white.

The other boy was small and scrawny looking. He was short for his age and almost nothing could be seen of him besides the little pale of white under his blanket of hair. The rest of his clothes were a complete black. Around his waist was a thick rope that held a sword. The rims of his robes were a patterned design. His eyes were a shining yellow, surrounded by a purple rimming that runs down his nose.

"This is actually our village? Things seemed to have changed completely," The clumsy boy said, looking curiously at his village.

"Yes, things have changed, hasn't it?" the jounin said, behind them. He was around his twenties, with hair that reached just past his shoulders, in a ponytail. He was tall, and had a warm face. He wore the normal jounin jacket and shirt a pants. The markings on his face faintly rimmed around his eyes and went down a bit on his cheeks. On his back was a long sword.

"Here I come, my beloved!" The girl sang out happily over the village. Then she started skipping down the hill. Her hair flew everywhere and bounced up and down in its violet color. The other three started following her down the hill. The pale boy cautiously cocked his head at the jounin.

"Kazan-sensei? Do you think anyone will remember us?" He asked quietly, almost to a whisper.

"I sure hope so, if not, we'll be in a lot of trouble!" The jounin said enthusiastically.

"I'm pretty sure my own family will remember, especially my sister," The pale eyed boy said.

"Probably…but I don't think anyone I know will still remember me," The scrawny boy said.

"You shouldn't worry about it so much Yomo!" The girl said, as she stood still from down the hill and called at them. Yomo looked up from surprise at how she could've heard him from so long away. The morning slowly crept up from the hill and it's warm rays bore into the four's skin. Dawn was upon them, splashing them with color. "I can't wait to get to your house, Kitei! Your cousin is soooo cool! Do you think he remembers me?"

"He'll probably remember you Kinu. After all, you were stalking him all the time back in the academy!" Kitei said, sighing. He would probably have to deal with his cousin after Kinu would leave. That would take a while.

"I didn't ALWAYS follow him! Remember that time when I was all over Sasuke?" Kinu said, sticking her tongue out.

"And how long did that last? Three days?" Kitei said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! Your just jealous that your not at all like your cousin!" Kinu said sticking out her lower lip this time.

"Oh, don't get into another argument!" Kazan said, worriedly. "Let's first get something to eat!" Yomo looked nervously at the village surrounding him. He didn't remember any of it. Then suddenly, as people started opening their shops, a figure jumped down from a window and landed in front of them. _Maybe these people will recognize her…that girl looks familiar some how_. The raven black-haired boy thought as he started digging into his pocket for the photo.

"Sasuke-kun?" Kinu asked, surprised that Sasuke landed right in front of them suddenly.

"What is it?"

"So you do know me, who are you again?" Sasuke said, momentarily forgetting his photo as he pulled it out.

"Remember? In the academy? I stalked you everywhere for three days? The girl older than you?" Kinu asked hopefully. It took a little time for Sasuke to remember, but then it became clear that this was the girl that followed him into the bathroom: Embarrassing.

"Oh…that's right, Kinu, right?" Sasuke asked, frowning. Kinu nodded very happily.

"What's that in your hand, Sasuke-kun?" Kinu asked, as she saw Sasuke holding the photo. Sasuke put the photo to face level and showed her it.

"Do you know where this girl is?" Sasuke asked, he felt kind of stupid standing there, asking if they saw a girl in a photo that was taken years ago. Kinu shook her head. So did the other three as they saw it. Sasuke sighed and started walking to person to person asking them the same question. All with the same answer: No.

Rei was awoken by barking from under her bed. She rolled over.

"Let me sleep!" Rei said. The barking continued. "Ok, ok! Let me get up!" she said, shifting into a sitting position with her feet dangling to the side. She looked down and saw the dogs looking back at her. One wasn't there. _Which one was it? Oh yes, the Dalmatian, Zehi _Rei thought. Rei leaned over the bed to look upside down at the sleeping dog. _Yup, Zehi is asleep alright_.

Rei back flipped off her bed and stood on the floor. Rei changed her clothes and ran downstairs. At the stairs, she looked down, and to her great displeasure, everyone was already up and eating. Hizume was on the phone though, probably with Hana, Jin and Masura were talking very quietly about something. _Probably about me! They don't need to worry about me! _Rei thought. Rei quietly ran down the stairs. She stopped a few inches away from the entrance of the kitchen door. She decided that acting completely normally would confuse them so she chose to do just that.

"Hello, and good morning peeps!" Rei said, entering the kitchen in her casual way. Hizume glanced over and nervously smiled, waving. Then he turned back to talking with Hana. Jin looked up in confusion. Masura nervously said, "Good Morning, Rei-san!"

"Rei-san?" Rei asked as she sat down in her normal spot. In front of her was a full course meal with eggs and sausages to perfection with hot coco. Masura looked at Jin, as if asking him something as Jin shrugged. "Rei-san? Why so formal?" Rei asked at Masura. Hizume put down the phone and sat down. There was a long silence as Masura hurriedly thought of something. Jin and Hizume held their breath as Masura opened his mouth.

"About last night with Kiba….well, are you…?"

"Kiba? Oh! THAT jerk! I'm fine! Why?" Rei asked, poking at her food.

"Well, uh, I guess we thought he…well…hurt your feelings some how," Jin said, and then covered his face with his arms, ready for a full blow on punch.

"Nah, just took a walk," Rei said, "Now put down your arms! What do you think I'm gonna do? Punch you?"

"Hehe," Jin nervously laughed as he slowly put down his arms. After some silence, the barking upstairs was heard again.

"Uh, is it me, or s it dog barks I hear?" Masura asked, looking up the stairs.

"Oh!" Rei started saying, but then swallowed down her last bite, "Wait one second!" Rei skid her chair back and rushed up stairs. Rei jumped up the stairs and flung open the door to her room. The dogs were all up and rushed at Rei's feet when they spotted her. "Nice to see you, too! Now come, follow me!" Rei said, walking back wards toward the stairs. The dogs obediently followed her, even down the stairs. She looked back as she came to the kitchen and saw all of them there. _Good, no one decided to run off some where else. _The dogs smelt the food and rushed into the room. Jin almost choked on his food. Masura bent down and pet Sunao, the black retriever. Hizume was…well appalled.

"You got mad at Kiba-kun, and decided to buy FIVE DOGS?" Hizume yelled, standing up.

"Ok, one thing, why Kiba-KUN? And another thing, I didn't BUY them, I FOUND them! They were starving last night! You expect me to just leave them there?" Rei yelled back.

"You could've gave them to the pound!"

"RIGHT! You just don't like dogs!"

"So what?"

"You'd be saying something else if it were CATS!"

"Maybe, because they don't have to get constant LOOKING AFTER!"

"Well, who said YOU were going to take care of them?" Rei asked, daringly. Hizume cocked his head back. Rei smirked; she got the better of him.

"Where are you going to get the money for the food?" Hizume asked.

"Well, I'm a genin now, so we'll be getting money from the missions we do, and if that's not enough, I can always get a part time job or something," Rei said, shrugging. Rei went over to the covert and pulled out some cereal that no one has eaten for months. "Until then, they can eat our cereal. After that, I'll take them on a walk."


	7. Just a Normal Day at the Park

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Chapter 7

Just a Normal Day at the Park

"Kiba, go say sorry to that girl!" Hana told her younger brother. They were inside their house, in the living room. Kiba just had breakfast and was about to leave with Akamaru, his dog. The Hana came up to him. Today, it was pretty sunny and warm. Everyone was starting to roam the streets. Kiba was planning to go to the park to play fetch with Akamaru. Guess he had a change of plans now.

"Why do I have to say sorry to her?" Kiba retorted, crossing his arms and looking at the ground next to him.

"Because didn't you see her go off like that? You hurt her feelings!" Hana said, putting hand on hips.

"Even if I do, how would I know WHERE she was?" Kiba said, rolling his eyes.

"Easy," Kiba's mom said, walking into the room, "Use your nose! You're not an Inuzuka for nothing!"

"Oh, fine! I'm going to the park first though, ok?" Kiba said and turned to the door.

"If you don't by the end of the day, you won't want to know the consequences!" Hana warned. _Crap_ Kiba thought, _She's gonna double check with that Hizume guy about it later_. Kiba opened the door and walked down the street. Then Kiba ran across a less crowded back street. He used this street as a short cut. Then suddenly, a boy jumped down in front of him, holding out a photo.

"Have you seen this girl?" Sasuke asked Kiba, getting annoyed further more of having to be there sounding very stupid. He was asking everyone the same question for hours now. He got a couple of "This girl looks familiar" from some of his formal classmates.

"Nope, never seen her," Kiba replied. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and once again, hopped on the roof. _Weirdo_ Kiba thought as he continued walking. _Why do I have to say sorry to her anyway? It was her fault for making an argument about it! It wasn't even about her! Feh! I'll never understand women! _

Kiba reached the park and brought out a treat to throw when he came into the park. It was beautiful. This park was surrounded by trees, that provided all the shade they needed. There was a stream that trickled down the side of it that had carp swimming through it. The grass was always well kept and there was a flower bed on the far western part of the park. There were three stone benches all together. It was perfect, where Kiba could let his worries slip away, and let down his guard, but this proved to be wrong for the moment. The thing that kept him from being able to was that there was already someone there. This girl was throwing a Frisbee with a group of dogs.

"Crap," Kiba muttered, "Rei."

Rei threw the Frisbee through the air again. This time her boy collie, Natsu, came back with it in his mouth. Rei happily pet her dog. She noticed her other collie, Fuyu, wasn't gathered around her. _Where'd she go?_ Rei looked across the gorgeous park to see Fuyu sniffing at another dog. She looked up at its owner and saw Kiba, standing there.

"Crap," Rei muttered, "Kiba."

Kiba looked at Rei; one of her dogs had come over to Akamaru and was now making acquaintances with him. _Please don't notice me!_ Kiba desperately thought. He didn't want to worry about her at the moment. He saw Rei get up and walk towards him, followed by her four other dogs.

"Hello Kiba. Come to call me another name?" Rei said coldly. Oddly enough, this was the last thing he expected Rei to ask. He thought she was going to scream at him to leave her alone. Or maybe something like, "Get out of my face, freak! I can't believe what you said last night!" and then maybe she would slap him. He even expected something like,

"I'm sorry about last night…," Kiba hoped.

"Oh, um, no. I haven't come back to insult you," Kiba said. Rei decided to do the one thing that truly was on her mind. She bent down and pet Akamaru.

"What's his name?" She asked. Kiba rose an eyebrow.

"Akamaru, why?"

"Dunno, just wonderin," Rei said, still patting Akamaru, "He seems to be a nice dog." Akamaru happily barked. _"I like her! She doesn't seem so bad!"_ Akamaru said to Kiba. Rei chuckled at the dog. _You only like her because she's being nice to you_ Kiba thought. There then was an awkward silence. Kiba looked down at Rei. It's as if he saw her today already.

The sun was shining on her hair as she pushed her bangs back behind her ear. Kiba felt the sudden curiosity and urge to reach over and stroke her hair, just to feel how silky it would feel. Or maybe see exactly how soft her skin was. Her- _WOAH! What are you thinking Kiba? PULL IT TOGETHER! Just say sorry and get it over with!_ Kiba shook his head and looked appalled at him. What was wrong with him? Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Ok, look, sorry about last night, ok?" Kiba said, kicking a little stone. He hated having to say sorry to someone. It always made him feel weak and pathetic. Rei looked at him in surprise. Then she cocked her head to the side,

"Did someone put you up to this?" Now it was Kiba's turn to look surprised.

"What? How'd you know?" Kiba asked. Rei laughed.

"Because you're a guy!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rei laughed again. _Why is she laughing?_

"Guys have the biggest egos I've ever seen! They don't just get up because of a little fight -not even a fist fight- and say sorry! Unless, of course…they're gay or something," Kiba laughed with Rei on this turn.

_He doesn't seem all THAT bad_ Rei thought. _Why is he hiding under that damned hood? He looks so stiff like that! _She continued laughing with him. Then, as they quieted down, Rei glanced up at Kiba looking at Akamaru and smiling. _Wow, his smile is so…warm! _Rei softly cocked her head at him again, and smiled.

"Do you want to play fetch with us?" Rei asked in the sweetest tone she's ever heard. It surprised her actually.

"Sure!" Kiba said his tone now more playful and care-free. Rei got up to her feet and started tossing her Frisbee again. When she grew tired of this, and seemingly some dogs started panting, she sat down on the nearest stone bench. She let out a gasp of breath.

"Wow, didn't notice how out of shape I was!" Rei laughed. She looked over at Kiba walking over and plopped himself onto the bench.

"Maybe you should get out more," Kiba said, smirking at her. Rei chuckled. _Is this guy for real?_

"Like I need you telling me that!" Rei said. Kiba shook his head and put down his hood, revealing a head of bushy brown hair. Rei smiled, happily. _Why does he wear the hood? He looks so much better with it off! _He was looking up into the trees, smiling. Rei set herself a goal just then: _To make him smile the same way at me._

Kiba looked back down at the dogs lying in the grass. He wondered who the dogs were, and when she got them. He didn't smell any dogs when he was at their house. Kiba looked over at Rei, and arched an eyebrow as he saw her already looking at him. _Do I have something in my hair? Grass, leaves?_ Kiba scratched his head to check.

"Hey, so what are your dogs' names?" Kiba asked, putting down his hand again. _There's nothing in my hair, weirdo_. For about half an hour, she sat there, pointing out who was who and later explained about last night. It was kind of awkward, she thought later. Last night, she was yelling her head off at this guy, which she didn't normally do, and now she was talking to him as if he was a normal friend she saw everyday. Rei reviewed over what she was suppose to do that day. It felt like she was forgetting something…something very important.

"Hey, Kiba, is there something we're suppose to do today?" Rei asked, fuzzily looking at the sky. Kiba sat there for a moment and stood up.

"Uh, don't we meet our sensei today?" Kiba asked, eagerly. Rei jumped up.

"Yeah! That's right! Are we late?" Rei asked, ready to run.

"Uh, no, don't think so, but we should start getting there," Kiba said, looking at the sky.

"Ok, well, I guess I'll see you then! Later Kiba!" Rei said, racing off with her dogs. Kiba shook his head as he put his hood on again, walking off. He smirked


	8. Dreams and Goals

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Chapter 8

Dreams and Goals

Uchiha Sasuke plopped into his living room coach. Today he had absolutely no luck. While he was asking people at the Ichiraku Ramen shop, he swore he heard a crow. The crow that always appeared before something stupid happened. What did he screw up? Maybe it was about to happen. Maybe he would go out and have the bad luck of getting drenched in mud, run into a tree, hit a bee hive, be chased by the bees, and then chased after by his fan club. Or maybe that would happen in reverse order.

Sasuke pondered on the day's events. Is there ANY one he didn't ask? He couldn't think of ANY. Well…there was plan B. Franticly, he tried to think of a different plan, but, whether he liked it or not, he was going to take it. He sighed. _This is going to be a long day._

Kitei crossed the courtyard of his house. It was a little courtyard surrounded by his house's rooms besides the gate. The grass was still wet from morning due. Even if there was barely any grass in the courtyard. He was being followed closely by his team. More pacifically, Kinu. Kazan was just walking along, taking in the sights and looking bored, so he was in no hurry. Yomo was nervous and kept quiet, glancing at only the ground.

Kitei shrugged. _Oh well, I was kind of hoping at least Kazan-sensei would be a little more enthusiastic._ In the midst of his thoughts, he was pushed aside and onto the muddy ground.

"What the hell?" He yelled. From above, a bird circled, landing poop on some random person's head. He looked over at Kinu, she was busily talking to Neji. Kitei was so annoyed of his cousin's one fan girl. The only thing she obsessed over was Neji. What was wrong with her? Obviously, Neji thought the same as he quickly glanced at Kitei on the cold ground.

"I presume you want to change your clothes?" Neji asked, crossing his arms. He had detested the main family for years. He smirked to see that one of them was easily pushed into a mud puddle.

"That would be…very nice," Kitei said, as he was helped by Neji to get up. They made their way through the house. Yomo seemed happy with the surroundings, as he was softly smiling at everything. Kinu was trying to flirt with Neji, and, well, the other three…let's just say there were three really annoyed ninjas at a certain kunouchi.

"Maybe you should try ignoring her," Kitei whispered into his cousin's ear.

Neji glared. They entered the main living room and sat down around a low table, after Kitei changed into his house robes. He felt the familiar tatami mat under his fingers. He breathed in the scent of his home. He looked over at his friends and his family. Kazan seemed to take an interest in the furnishing. Yomo seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, even if he was just politely sitting there. Kinu was delighted to see Neji again. Kitei chuckled as he glanced the expression on Neji's face. He seemed to be agitated; and Kitei knew it. _Aaaaahhhh, nothing like home!_

"I see you've come home!" He heard the familiar voice of his father say. Hizashi entered the room with an air of respect. He sat down at the end of the table and lightly smiled at his son.

"Yes! I've learned so much, too!" Kitei said, exited.

"Then you shall have to train with me sometime," Neji glared at Hizashi. It was his fault that his father was not alive to this day. They had ordered him to death to protect the main family.

"Where are my sisters, Hinata-chan and Hanabi?" Kitei asked.

"Hinata has gone to the academy to be assigned to her jounin leader. Hanabi has ventured into the forest to train," Hizashi said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Really? I didn't know they were being assigned today,"

"The academy has moved up the date since last year after you left."

"Oh, I see. So Hokage-sama is still alive and kicking?"

"Very much so. Though I fear that he seems to be aging, and I expect that he will be passing the Hokage title very soon." Hizashi said, and Kitei, along with his team, was basically filled in for what they missed. Followed by Neji going some where else, and then a friendly conversation with everyone else.

"So, I wonder what our sensei is like!" Rei asked everyone. Kako was sitting politely on a desk in the class room. Jin passed back and forth in the middle of the class room. Rei layed fully across the top of the desks on the lower row. They had been directed there to wait. Wait for their jounin sensei. Jin was a nervous wreck. Rei suddenly jumped up and started twirling on the table tops. " I feel so care free!" she twittered.

"What's gotten into YOU?" Jin shot at her, "Did you meet the guy of your dreams or something?"

"Woooooah, just calm down, Jin!" Kako tried to relax him, sweat-dropping.

"How can you guys stay so…so, care free?"

"Easy! Like this!" Rei said, and twirled around again. This just annoyed Jin again. Before Jin could say anything, someone opened the door. In walked a jounin. He had blue-ish spiked hair, and two huge kunais on his back. There was a marking that seemed to be a square on his chin. Then there was a bandage that ran across his face from one side to the other. Then other than that, he just had the normal jounin outfit.

"Hello! You must be my team!" He said. Rei smiled, Jin froze, and Kako nodded. "So, you must be Rei," he nodded at Rei as she nodded back, "Kako," he nodded at Kako, and he also nodded back, "and Jin?" he finished with Jin. Jin bowed.

"H-hai!" he stuttered.

"Sorry for his…nervous-ness. I don't think he had coffee this morning," Rei said. Their jounin laughed. Jin looked devastated. The jounin walked over and out a hand on Jin's shoulder, leaning on one knee.

"There's no need to be scared! You'll have other things to worry about besides trying to act formal to me!" he said. Jin looked a little relieved. The jounin stood up and started walking to the door. "You coming?" he asked as he turned his head at the students. They hadn't budged. Then, they started following him obediently. _My, I have some work for them! Almost makes me feel sorry to have to put them through this! It's like they haven't even seen or killed anyone yet!_

"Anoooo, sensei, what exactly is your name?" Rei nervously asked, catching up to be walking on his right. Of _course, I forgot._

"Oh, sorry about that! My name is Kotetsu!" He said.

"I like that name!" Rei said cheerfully. You can always expect her to be the cheerful one.

"I'm Suchino Harimaru. Yes, I know the name is a boy name, but I don't like it. So just call me Hari!" Hair said happily as she and her two team mates sat by the public pond.

"Well, my hobby I guess is to train, hang with friends, gossip, the phone, along with a whole lot of other things. My goal is to be the first kunouchi hokage!"

"Yes, a really nice goal. Now, you," The purple haired jounin said to the boy sitting next to Hari. He had his right arm hung over the back of the bench and seemed to be staring into the distance across the lake. He had black hair, and his bangs spiked off to the left of his face. His hair was cut at the neck. He rose an eyebrow at the jounin.

"Sarudai Mettaini, but just Metta. Hobbies are…well, I'd rather not say. Goal is to be an ANBU team leader," He said, just shifting his eyes at his sensei.

"Right, of course. Now you," she nodded at the other boy. The boy was leaning over, with his elbows on his knees. He had a smug expression on with light brown hair sticking out the rim of his flat cap. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and a open heavy jacket that covered some metal plating.

"Me? Well, I'm Gestarai Sakka. My hobbies are writing, training, sewing, and having to take care of my pet horse, Chiromaru. My goal is to have a team of my own!" He happily stated.

"I see," The jounin answered. "Well, it looks like I'll have to be introducing myself. I'm INSERT HERE Anko. That's all you guys have to know."

"That it? Ok, so what next Anko-sensei?" Hari asked.

"Well, you guys catch lunch and meet me here again in two hours, got it?" Anko asked. Sakka nodded. Metta looked at her in response. Hari nodded. Just as Anko went, Hari wondered what she was to do in that time. _I wonder how Jin-kun is…_


	9. Team work against the odds

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Chapter 9

Team work against the odds

"Ok, your first test is simple," Kotetsu started to say. Everyone had their fill of lunches and decided to start earlier than most teams to do something. The air had that clingy feeling so it felt like it was going to rain soon. They were on the edges of a clearing with the river running along the sides. The plain was a dull color, like it was fall. In the far middle of the field, there was a series of huge boulders.

"Test?" Jin asked. Rei cocked her head to the side while Kako sat there, seemingly admiring the surrounding.

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you guys yet. This may come to a shock to you, but only about four or five of the teams pass each year. Yes, only them out of the whole academy will pass," Kotetsu said, still smiling as if this was just casual talk. Both Rei and Jin almost choked at this.

"But, Kotetsu-sensei! What happens to those who fail?" Kako asked.

"Oh, easy, they go back to the academy for another year until they figure out what a true shinobi is!" Kotetsu said and laughed. For that split second he laughed, it felt as if everything turned dark and the three students slumped over depressingly. To make things worse, it started raining. Rei ignored the rain, but fell over on her back. Jin covered his head with his arms and Kako looked up. "Oh, looks like it's raining. Perfect!"

"What kind of twisted thing do you have in mind?" Jin said, slant-eyed. As he said this, Kotetsu started making hand seals. Slowly the three were engulfed in a swirling mist, as it cleared up, they saw that everything seemed to be a mix of two colors: Black and purple.

"Uh, guys, I have no problem saying I'm a bit freaked out, ok?" Rei said as she looked around and on instincts flung out a kunai. The other two stood up, also taking out kunai.

"Kotetsu-sensei, what are you doing?" Kako called out.

"You three will have to figure out how to get out of my genjutsu, but only stay in this training ground. The first one to figure out my genjutsu gets to pass!" came a voice that seemed to come from all directions.

"What do you mean the first one?" Kako called out again.

"That means that the other two are sent back to the academy. You see, out of the people in the teams that pass are put into a new team that's basically the top person on each first assigned team. Do you get it?" Kotetsu's voice rang out. The three exchanged glances at each other. Only one of them would truly become a genin. They all nodded at each other and took off in separate directions.

"Whoever figures out first?" Rei thought out loud. She took off towards the other end of the training area. This area was heavily shaded and contained a few fallen over logs. Rei was sitting on the top of one of the trees, over looking the forest. "Well, let's see, what do I know about most genjutsu? Well, in most of them, the creator usually takes the form of a living creature in the illusion. So I guess all I need to do is search the forest for a squirrel or something!" Rei's face lightened up as she began her search on the ground.

Kako had no idea what to do. He just hopped over the river and went down the stream as he walked. _What to do? Genjutsu never really interested me, so I never really studied on how to get out of one. Well, sometimes they direct their focus into pain to be brought out of it. Though that is only used when they are being used in a genjutsu that is when there is almost immediate pain. This illusion is different. Maybe there are clues to how to get out layed around the forest. Well, I don't see much other option, must get started. This may be my only chance to get my…_ Kako smiled and started noticing everything around him.

Jin layed flat with his arms behind his head in the middle of the field. He was on top of a flat boulder. Jin stared at the demented swirling sky. He hated this place. _Well, I can't really think when it's like there's evil around me. No matter, so what should I try first? There's a list of possibilities. First is the fact where the creator might change into a living creature so it could monitor us. The second could be that there's a riddle that is supposed to be figured out. Another is that maybe there's traps all around this place and we just have to survive. There are some other choices that would take some time. I need time. Well, I could always try and knock them out until I figure it out. That would give me enough time. _Then Jin set off.

"Ugh," Rei said, "I didn't know it would take this much work! It's going to take forever to find him!" She complained as she looked into another tree burrow. She heard some rustling and threw out a kunai at the bush. It seemed to keep still, so Rei very carefully went forward. She pushed away to see her kunai and nothing more. Before she could react, something leapt at her from behind and hit her hard on the head. Rei fell over and looked at the figure that attacked her. "Jin? What the hell do you think your doing?"

"Sorry Rei, I really want to become a genin today. Rei didn't expect a reply and thought of a million things to do at that moment, but she let her eyes fall and her breathing relax again. There was nothing she could do to harm him right now, so why not give in?

Kako looked out over the field. There were the rock boulders. Why didn't he think of it before? Kako started running toward the rocks as he realized that there was a good chance that if there were any clues, it'd be there. When he reached the clump of boulders, he scanned over it with his hands. He didn't see anything unusual. Wait, where'd that shadow come from? Before Kako was knocked out, he felt a sudden throb at the back of his head.

A flock of crows that sat on the trees watched as Jin whacked Kako on the back of the head, and obviously dragged his other team mate to the place. He now stashed them in the little area of boulders. It seemed that this was now his little headquarters. After he did that, the boy set off toward the stream. He was probably going to see if Kako had discovered anything there. How pointless.

Kako flickered his eyes open to be facing the sky. He felt his head and looked around. Kako reached into his pouch to bandage his head and saw Rei was lying beside him._ It still looks like she'd knocked out. This must be Jin's doing. _He looked around to discover that Jin was no where in sight of the clutch of boulders. Kako stood up and went midway towards the river and stopped, looking around. He glanced back at the boulders. _Maybe I should go wake up Rei before I go kick the shit out of Jin._

As he thought this, he barely dodged a kunai flung past his head. He flung his head behind him and threw one of his own kunai. Jin easily deflected it and ran towards Kako. One of his hands were covering the front side of him with a kunai and the other was held low and clenched on a fist. When he was close enough, he swung at Kako's head. Kako stepped aside and held Jin's right arms, then twisted it behind him with a kunai at Jin's neck.

"What are you doing Jin?" Kako whispered into Jin's ear. There was a sudden chill that rose from Jin's spine up, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. Suddenly, Jin used his left leg and turned it to where he tripped Kako, even though causing him to scar on his neck as Kako fell. Jin ran a couple feet off and turned around again to see Kako slowly try to get up.

Jin started running at him, again with his hand in a fist, about to knock the boy out again. Kako stood up, still limping over the ground and his stance was leaving him open to a complete attack.

"Why?" Kako asked, as Jin swung his arm. Jin briefly paused to explain, still holding his arm up.

"Because, I still need time," and Jin swung again at Kako's head. Kako looked behind him and saw someone running up behind Jin.

"Sorry Jin, attacking your team mates just doesn't seem right," Rei said as she held Jin's arm right before the blow to Kako's head.

"What? When did you wake up? I hit you hard enough for hours!" Jin said, whipping his head around at Rei.

"Oh, that's an easy one! By how a fell and how motionless I was, it seemed I was knocked out for a while if I was undisturbed, right?" Rei said, Jin slowly nodded and glared. "Well, I ran down a list of things to do when you hit me. I couldn't pick one in time so I did the usual thing that would buy me some time to think of what to do: I played possum!" Rei said, sticking her tongue out happily. Kako stood to full height, cocked his head, crossed his arms, and smirked.

"I never would've suspected that! Nice plan,"

"Why thank you!" Rei said, "Now, what to do with Jin here!" Rei said.

"Well, Jin, we'll let you free again if you don't try anything so dangerous again, ok? We might actually try to stick together," Kako said, looking straight into Jin's eyes. Jin sighed and puffed up his cheeks.

"Fine, I think I ran across some traps out there earlier anyway," Jin then rose both eyebrows and changed his attitude to a more playful one, "Besides, you guys will need all the help you can get!" Rei let go while Kako put him in a head lock, and rubbing his head with a fist.

"You know, maybe we should kick you back into the woods!" Kako said, also playfully. Rei laughed. One of the crows squawked in delight. It was truly a sight to see three pre-teens, set against each other, to suddenly get along so well. It saw that things became suddenly a little more serious as the kunouchi suggested and then explained something.

"So, our sensei may actually be an animal. What do you think we should do? Go look for him?" Rei finished her explanation. Rei and Jin looked at Kako, as if he was the leader. Kako looked like he was thinking very deeply about the situation.

"Well, if he is one, I think he might be a bird, so he could fly and keep a monitor on us. Though, I can't see anything in the sky because of this darkness," Kako came to a conclusion, "Can you two see anything?" Rei shook her head. Jin looked about the trees, and pointed to a tree on the edge of the forest.

"Uh, what about a crow?" He asked. The other two traced his finger to see a flock of crows.

Seeing that he was discovered, Kotetsu made the rest of the flock fly away. He flew up and towards them. They had done a magnificent job at finding him so quickly. As he flew in front of them, he resumed his normal shape as the genjutsu slowly faded away. Everything suddenly became lighter as the sky was seen again, obviously then rain had cleared up, leaving puddle of water through out the field.

"You guys passed the genjutsu! Normally, you'd have to hunt them down, but eventually you would've anyway. There's one th-" Kotetsu started but was cut off.

"Oh, I think Jin should go on to become a ninja! I had a lot of time to cope with the idea," Rei said, gesturing at Jin. Jin slowly blushed as he waved his hand in front of him.

"No no! Kako should! He's the one that decided what to do, and figured out Kotetsu-sensei was a bird!" Jin said. Kako rose an eyebrow to his name being mentioned.

"Wait! You have the wrong idea!" Kotetsu said, now he was putting his hands in front of him, and sweat-dropped, "You ALL pass!" They all looked at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"See, the most important thing to a shinobi is team work! Even though the situation made you set against each other, you finally pulled through to get the task complete."

"You mean," Rei said, "that you just said all that stuff to set us up? To see if we'd figure out what the most important thing was?" Kotetsu nodded. "I can't BELIEVE you! I looked through that forest for HOURS for nothing!" Rei started complaining. Kako smiled nervously and slowly started patting Rei on the back. Jin nudged Kotetsu.

"You know, that was kind of sly! To force us together, since Rei had the idea, Kako knew what to do with it, and I had the ability to do it!" Kotetsu looked down at Jin smiling at him. Kotetsu smiled back.

"Exactly the idea."


	10. A New Feeling

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Chapter 10

A New Feeling

After the first acutance with his newly formed team, Uchiha Sasuke thought that maybe he would actually lose his temper with them farther down the road. Losing his temper was a very hard thing to do with Sasuke. Naruto yelled at him, and tried to show him off at every chance he got; even when it turned out he did something really stupid. Sakura was nice and let him have his space when he needed it, but she was too preppy to his likening. Kakashi even admitted it that his first impression on them was that he didn't like them.

Sasuke sighed in despair as he walked up the steps to his four room apartment. He turned the door handle like he normally did and went in, turning on the lights. The lights poor on dustless furniture and plastic plants in areas of the room. On the far end of the apartment there was a glass window that took up about the whole wall on that side and it lead out into a balcony. The walls were a pale white and so was the floor. On the wall hung his mother's wedding kimono. His television sat on a small black stand. In front was a glass table between a long black couch and a small plank wall that lead into the little dining table room that had a door leading into the kitchen.

Sasuke gave another heavy sigh as he sat into his big couch. He looked down at the silk scarf on the table in front of him once again. _Back to the mystery of her…_Sasuke reached over for the scarf again and tossed it in the air, repeatedly catching it again. _What should I try now? Plan B was to go to the Hokage's to ask him about it, but that would make me look…weak. _He let another sigh escape from his lips. He was at a complete loss. He made a promise that if he didn't figure out who she was by the end of the weak, he'll go to the Hokage's office. Sasuke let the silk scarf escape through his fingers and fall on the glass table again. _I will find you…sister. _

Rei was racing home, but her mind ran across the encounter with her and Kiba that morning. It seemed so far away. It was probably because her mind was occupied for so long. She slowed down to a walk. Rei still detested him a little still for calling her a dumb-ass, but that wasn't this feeling inside of her. What was it? Maybe she considered him a close friend already. No, that didn't feel right. Acquaintance? No, it couldn't be that.

Rei looked up to see Sakura walking into her home. Without really thinking, she called for her before she closed the door behind her.

"Hey Sakura!" Rei called and ran to her doorstep. Sakura looked back and opened the door, turning around.

"Yes? What is it?" Sakura asked her, blinking her emerald eyes.

"Uh, there's something important I'd like to ask you…in private," Rei said, glancing around the almost deserted street.

"Sure, come in!" Sakura said, welcoming her into her house. The two kunouchi sat down in Sakura's cozy living room. After Rei put her coat on the coat rack, Sakura asked "So, what is it?"

"Well, I encountered someone at the park today, and I'm…nor really sure how I feel," Rei paused for a second, it was awkward telling this to a girl she barely even knew. Sakura nodded for her to go on. "I was hoping you could help me figure out how I feel."

"How does this feeling, I mean, describe the feeling," Sakura corrected herself. Rei thought for a moment.

"Well, what's the feeling when you feel like your insides do a black-flip when you see him? Or when you start thinking about stuff like 'I wonder if he thinks I'm weird'? Or when you're able to recognize his voice anywhere?" Sakura softly smiled as she realized what it was.

"Rei, who is this person? Don't be shy; I swear I won't tell a soul." Rei hesitated.

"Um…this may be weird, but it's…Kiba." Sakura's face lit up and she smiled even wider than before. She reached over and held both of Rei's hands in her own. Rei looked straight into her eyes, as did Sakura.

"Rei, you love Kiba." Rei blinked and her mouth hung open in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Sakura let go of Rei's hands and gave her a I'm-an-expert-at-this look.

"Of course." Rei looked a little relieved and smiled nervously.

"Thanks Sakura. I'll go now, bye! I'll see you around!" Rei waved as she went out the door. Sakura waved back. Rei went back into the streets and walked down the street. _Love? Surely it couldn't be…but at the moment it seems the only word for it._

The next day Sasuke once again walked down the street after returning from the bell training and receiving a phone call from the third Hokage himself, calling him to his office. What could he possibly want from him? He looked up and saw Sakura walking out of her house with a jacket in her arm. She was looking around, then started setting of in the same direction Sasuke was heading. With Sasuke's long strides, it only took him a couple of minutes to catch up to Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun! I didn't even see you coming!" Sakura said as she noticed the Uchiha walking alongside her.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked her out of curiosity, and to take his mind off his dilemma. Sakura smiled.

"I'm going to the store for some groceries."

"Then why do you have that jacket? It doesn't look like something you would wear." Sasuke said, eyeing the black jacket.

"Oh, this is Rei's. She left it at my house yesterday and I'm trying to return it."

"Trying?"

"Yeah, I don't really actually KNOW where her house is," Sakura said, closing her eyes and sticking her tongue out, while scratching the side of her neck.

"I know where it is," Sasuke said. _Yet, another useless thing I wish to forget._

"Really? Can you tell me?" Sakura said. Sasuke looked at her and was locked in her emerald gaze.

"I'll take it to her for you," The words escaped his mouth before he thought about it. Sasuke looked back ahead, hiding his little surprise. _Why was I so willingly to help her all of a sudden? _Sakura started handing him the jacket as she stopped in front of the little grocery store.

"Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun! I owe you one later!" Sakura said, as Sasuke took the jacket from her. Sasuke watched as she walked into the store. He looked forward once again. He fumbled with the question of: why did he just do what he did?

Sasuke waited for someone to answer the door after he rang it. The doorknob turned and Jin stood there looking at Sasuke.

"This is Rei's house, right?" Sasuke asked him. _What was Jin doing there?_

"Yup, let me get her. You can wait in the living room," Jin said, running up the stairs. Sasuke walked in and closed the door behind him. He looked across the…cozy living room. He heard Jin talking to Rei upstairs, as he glanced into the kitchen. His gaze positioned on two pictures hanging on the refrigerator by magnets.

"Uchiha? What do you want? I'm about to head out…," Rei said as she came down the stairs. When she got down and was leaning against the wall, he asked,

" How do you know those people?" Sasuke said. Rei looked over and followed his gaze at the two photos.

"Oh, they're just my dead family. They died in some attack," Rei said. She thought she must've said something wrong as she saw Sasuke frozen there, forgetting the jacket and dropping it. _Crap, what did I do THIS time?_


	11. Sasuke’s Search to an End

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Chapter 11

Sasuke's Search to an End

When Rei left downstairs, Jin was left there, watching the five dogs eat. _What in the world would Sasuke want Rei for? As far as I know, Rei HATES the guy! Did she do something like a prank on him? _Jin thought, as he sat on the carpeted floor. All the dogs lapped up the water that at in a dish big enough to fit three of them. Jin never really liked dogs exactly, but as long as the five puppies didn't annoy him, he guessed it'd be fine to have them here.

"So, guys, how do you like it here so far?" Jin asked, not really expecting an answer. Then the Dalmatian, Zehi she called him, looked up and walked over to Jin and gave him a though row face licking. "Ew! Disgusting! Hey…your getting it in my hair!" Jin tried getting the dog of and then held it up in front of his face, legs dangling helplessly. Zehi's tail wagged.

"Arf!"

"Yeah, "arf" to you too," Jin said, "Now, go back with your friends." Then he set Zehi down. As if on cue, the dog leaped at his friends. Zehi turned back around towards Jin, and before he knew it, all five dogs were all over him. While he was trying to get them

off again, he heard Masura laughing from the door way.

"I see that your "bonding" very well with them!" Masura joked.

"Shut up! They were coming on me!" Jin said as he yanked the black Labrador off. Masura reached for the dog and cradled him in his arms. He tickled the belly of him, causing the dog to whine in happiness.

"What's this one called?" He asked. Jin shrugged.

"I think it was Sunao,"

"That's a nice name! Sunao is it?" Masura looked down at the puppy, "You wanna hang with me for a while?" Sunao barked in reply. "Sure, but first let's go ask Rei if you can go." Masura said and started leaving the room.

"Yo, Masura, I don't think it would be very good at the moment!" Jin called after. Masura looked back at him.

"Why?"

"She has an important…guest at the moment."

"What guest?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke."

"What, really?" Masura looked shocked, and rushed back into the room. "What could he possibly want?"

"Maybe…maybe he LIKES her!" Jin said, moving his hands in a big circle.

"Wow! Never thought of that! Right now, that seems like the only reasonable explanation!"

"Hey, should we peak-just PEAK- around the corner and watch them? It won't do any harm!" Jin said. Masura nodded, and put down Sunao.

"Now be queit you dogs! You might give it away!" Masura said, helping his brother up. They both rushed out the door, closing it, and then into the hallway. They both tip-toed to the corner of the stairs. Both of them poked their heads from the side of it and what they saw was something interesting INDEED.

Rei stood there looking at the Uchiha. She arched an eyebrow at him as she saw him drop her jacket onto the floor. Sasuke was frozen there, staring at the two photos. It's as if he knew them personally. The genin slowly turned his head down, with his arms dangling of his frame.

Sasuke stared down at the tan carpet. It was as if a flood was overwhelming him inside. He wanted to burst in tears, yell at her where she's been, rip his hair out for being so stupid, drop to his knees and pray to Kami, along with more things. One thing was for certain: The will to kill Itachi had been re-lit and he wondered why he decided to tell him now. He hadn't even notice he looked devastated as he stood there motionless for, what seemed like, hours. He was even holding his breath, not yet daring to look at the kunouchi. It was as if she would disappear again if he took in a lungful of air.

"Uh, Sasuke, you all right?" Rei nervously asked. Sasuke remembered a time when she asked the same thing, though they were younger. Her voice now seemed to ring of past memories. Sasuke slowly forced a breath and slowly looked at her. His back was turned and Rei could hardly see his face. What Rei saw, was something she never saw on a person.

On Sasuke's face was as if he was looking at a good memory, or maybe even an angel. His onyx black eyes were fixed straight into her eyes. His bangs delicately draped in front of his face. His mouth was quivering. Much like her, Rei realized.

"Sasuke?" Rei asked one more time. Without any warning or any sign of him about to do so, he ran up at her and pinned her to the wall behind her. Both his hands were on either side of her head. Rei leaned on the wall, the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground. Sasuke looked into her eyes; Rei's coal black eyes. After a couple of moments, he broke his gaze at her and looked down. The hands beside her head were shaking as he looked down.

"I…I can't believe it. I thought…you were gone forever," Sasuke said. Rei noticed him repeatedly drawing him short gasps of breath. Was he…crying? She studied him for a second. Sasuke suddenly let his hands and instead, wrap it around Rei. She looked up at his face as he cried on her forehead. The Uchiha Sasuke was crying, while holding her in a hug.

Rei didn't dare say a word. It was kind of cool to see and experience something no one else has. Wait till she told everyone...but why was he doing this? In between the crying, he managed to say something, even if it did come in a shaky tone.

"Rei, y-you don't r-remember d-do you?"

"Remember what?" Rei asked, careful to not frighten him into running away. At the moment, she was seeing him as a frightened deer.

"Rei…m-my…sister…"

Sasuke gasped, but still steadily cried, his nose on her forehead. Rei suddenly realized. This genin that stood about an inch above her was her brother, her supposedly dead brother. She glanced at the photo. The little boy in one of them had cheerful black eyes, and he was smiling. His bangs almost fell over his eyes and the back of his hair stood slightly up. Her mother had a caring face and with straight raven black hair. Her father looked more grave and serious, but in his eyes, she could see a softer layer of him.

"Sasuke…nii-san?" Rei asked. She didn't need Sasuke to answer. Having him cry above you was kind of huge sign that said yes. Rei felt sudden joy and something lost inside of her was now found. She wanted to cry in joy, just like Sasuke. She skipped that and flung her arms around her brother in a tight hug. Sasuke let out another round of tears as she did. _I can't believe it_ he thought, _a miracle._


	12. A New Beginning

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Chapter 12

A New Beginning

Sasuke let go of the embrace with her newly found sister; Rei. No, that's now Uchiha Rei. Sasuke looked into her eyes. Rei looked slightly awkward and nervously smiled._ It was Rei all this time, why didn't I realize it?_ Sasuke thought.

"You know, you have mother's eyes," Sasuke said, truthfully. He could see the deepness in her eyes, just as his mother used to have. Rei smiled without fear. She could tell that her life was now changed forever.

"As of you," Rei said. She knew what she looked like from the photo, but now she felt her mother; even though she never remembered her herself. The room now filled with silence. From the top of the stairs, she heard Hizume's voice, followed by little hurrying footsteps.

"Hey guys, the dogs were scratching at the door so I-" The rest of his words were muffled out, and then a thud

Jin held Hizume's mouth and put a finger up to his lips. He hoped the two they were spying on didn't hear him. It looked like they didn't, but just as he lowered his hand, Masura whispered in his ears, almost reaching a yell.

"The dogs!" Masura whispered, or at least he hoped what seemed like a whisper, and leaped at the staircase from which the dogs were running down. Hizume didn't really get what was going on, so he jumped at the bottom of the stairs, ready to catch the bouncing puppies. At the top, he saw Jin reaching to help Masura not stumble down the stairs. Masura obviously tripped on the stairs in his hurry, and Jin rushed and reached out his hand for Masura to catch on. Masura grabbed his wrist in hope to not stumble and break his back. Jin, however, was surprised by the sudden wait and pull on his arm, that he couldn't with stand it, so he fell down the stairs, tumbling with Masura.

Hizume was shocked and, like most people would do, he just stood there and watched his two falling brothers. He didn't notice the puppies past by his legs and were running into the living room. Masura went head first into Hizume's legs and Hizume tumbled on top of Jin, who was on top of him at that moment. The all landed with a light thud on the floor.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Rei muttered, plainly standing there, wincing at the sight. Sasuke rolled his teary eyes. He then looked away and wiped his eyes back to normal.

"Hizume, you dope," Jin said and punched Hizume on his side.

"Owwwwww, get off of me!" Masura complained from underneath.

"Fine…I still don't know why we were spying downstairs," Hizume said as he got of and noticed Rei and Sasuke standing there. After a few seconds, it finally came to him.

"Oh! We were spying on them, because Sasuke never came to our house before!" Everyone sweat-dropped, besides the ever so silent Uchiha. Jin took this moment to slip over to Sasuke.

"So, uh, do you like Rei or something?" Sasuke blinked at him. "We saw you…er…hug her just now, and were you…" he trailed off, maybe accusing him of hugging and crying all at once would make him very…upset. Sasuke shook his, then looked at Rei.

"I have to explain it?" Sasuke just stared. "Fine, look Hizume, Masura, Jin. You see those photos on the wall? Well, those people are my family, right?" Rei said, and plucked the photo of the boy off the refrigerator. She then put it next to Sasuke's head, much to Sasuke's annoyance. "Don't they have a striking resemblance?" It was hard to argue against that since he was the only known boy that had raven black hair that stood up in the back. Well, better yet ANY boy that had hair stick up in the back for that matter.

"You mean to tell me that…Sasuke here is your-," Masura was saying.

"BROTHER?" Hizume said, completely freaking out. Jin took Rei by the shoulders, shaking her to death. By the force, she dropped her photo as Sasuke caught it.

"YOU'RE A UCHIHA? A SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE FAMOUS UCHIHA CLAN?" Jin yelled in her face.

"Yeah! I'm so fricken AWSOME, aren't I?" Rei said, practically taking Jin's wrist and dancing around the room with him. Sasuke thought this very disturbing and disgraceful, but he decided that when the idea of Itachi killing the clan seeped into her head…

"Well, your welcome here anytime then!" Masura said as he put out a hand in the form of a waiting handshake to Sasuke. Hizume was right next to him, smiling at the young Uchiha. Sasuke lightly sighed and extended his hand. They both shook and Sasuke returned his hand back into his pocket. After Rei got done celebrating, Sasuke said, "Rei, we should go to the Hokage's office and get some answers about why we didn't know any of this."

"Right," Rei turned to the three siblings, "Can you guys keep it on the low? As in not tell anyone?" They all nodded their heads. "Ok, dogs, come on, you need your walk."

Obediently, the five dogs followed her outside.

When they were far from the house, Sasuke asked, "Are they all your dogs?" He glanced at the five dogs jumping along the path.

"Of course! When I said I was just about to go out when you came into my house, I meant that I was going to take them on a walk!" Rei said cheerfully, "Why? They're not…bothering you are they?"

"No, it's just I started thinking…since you're my…sister, I was supposing after this talk, you should immediately start packing so you can move into my house."

"Really? I never thought of that! I was really thinking more of the looks on people's faces when we tell them the news! Maybe we should invite everyone over for a little, and then announce it!" Rei suggested, "Wouldn't that be nice?" She asked her dogs. _"Sounds really fun! Maybe we could see Akamaru-kun! _Rei swore she heard her collie, Fuyu, say. Of course, the shock could always be giving her strange thoughts.

"Sure, but if you move in with me, I'm not sure they're enough room for your dogs." Sasuke continued. They talked on this problem until they reached the office building. Rei thought it awkward talking to Sasuke so normally after realizing he was your brother, but what else COULD she do?

"Hello Sasuke-san, Hokage-sama has been waiting for you," The lady at the front desk said. Sasuke moved along. Rei knew she wasn't allowed to bring pets in there, but under the circumstances, she thought she could at least be permitted to do that. Luckily, the lady didn't notice. Sasuke turned the door handle and walked inside, sitting in a chair in front of the desk. Rei followed him and did the same, letting Natsu, her male collie, sit on her lap. She found out she was nervous as the chair slowly turned around to show the Hokage. To ease her nervous-ness, she softly started petting her dog. The Hokage looked at Rei and rose his eyebrows, then turned back to Sasuke.

"I'm guessing you've already figured out," he said.

"Figuring out she's my sister who I was told that was dead? Well in that case, yes," Sasuke said. Rei could tell his anger level was rising, so she took the liberty of talking.

"Ano…Hokage-sama, we mean that we would like to know some answers of to why were told other wise," she simply put. The old Hokage sighed.

"I knew that this time would come. When we heard that you, Rei, had lost your memory on the night of the slaughter, we thought we should take advantage of this, thought it was a hard decision."

"You mean you just decided that she shouldn't know she was an Uchiha?" Sasuke said, his temper lowering.

"Like I said, it wasn't an easy decision. The council and I debated for hours. On one hand, if we told her the truth, she would be happy to be with her brother, but she would most probably be bent on the same revenge you yourself are so eager to take. On the other hand, if we told her something else, she wouldn't seek revenge and she could live her life out normally, even though we knew that some day you two would figure it out sooner or later. The down side on that was that she would be left without any family, and maybe making her emotionally week, we worried about this for a little while afterwards, but when we saw the young Jin take her as a friend, we thought our little dilemma was solved until now. The topic came back up that now you two are genins and full-fledged shinobi; we now thought you two should learn the truth. Right now, though, it seems you've already figured out."

"Now what do we do?" Sasuke asked, coldly staring into the depths of the Hokage's eyes.

"I suppose you, Rei, would like to move into your brother's apartment?" The Hokage asked. Rei nodded slowly. "Right, but first, I would like you two to sign a paper and that you keep this a secret for the time being, or at least until we've confirmed everything and make sure all the jounin know of this, understand?" Again, Rei nodded, with Sasuke. The leader of the village pushed forth a scroll that obviously re-declared the two siblings. In turn, they both signed it. As they started heading back out again to immediately start moving Rei's belongings into Sasuke's house, Rei found a new joy in life, and new journey that would begin there. A long journey: The journey of her life.


	13. As The Days Go On

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Chapter 13

As The Days Go On

Days past by as Rei, along with the rest of the passed teams, were busy doing missions. Jin was now frequently trying to hide from Hari, whom was hanging with Ino most of her free time. Kako was going on with his daily routine, pondering the big questions like: What's my purpose in life? Or who will my true love be? Kotetsu was always busy trying to keep his pupils from killing each other, running away, or worse; planning against him. Metta and Sakka continued to be themselves. Sakka slowly progressed into a friendship with Kiba, since their personalities seem to be so alike. Rei was caught pondering on thoughts of her life; there was so much to learn about her brother. One thing was that she was surprised to see him kneeling next to his bed one night praying. The biggest thing she missed though was Kiba. She hadn't seen him since the day at the park.

So here Kiba was, after weeks of thinking and taking advice, he came to a conclusion. He could feel Akamaru less active and jumpy, whom was safely in the opening of his jacket. Today was a dreary day. The streets almost had nobody walking them. Most of the shops were closed, too. It had been dark all day. Kiba walked along the street, towards his friend's house. He had to ask him something before he made sure of his conclusion.

The sand below him made a soft rushing sound as he stepped of it. He could feel the wind gently brush his face. The smell in the air was rain, but this one seemed like it was going to bring good in it. He sure hoped something nice would happen. Lately Kiba was having bad luck. Three times in a row now, it was his fault why they failed their mission. He was getting a bit…over reactive and loud.

Kiba stepped up to the door and knocked in it. With a creek, Sakka opened the door and yawned. Obviously, Kiba just woke him up.

"Hey Kiba, what is it?" He asked, half asleep.

"Uh, well…it's kind of personal. See there's this person I met and-," Kiba started.

"Girl trouble?" Sakka just plainly asked. Kiba thought for a moment as Sakka stared at him. "…Well?" Kiba classified as 'Girl Trouble' and went in with him, nodding. They both sat in the kitchen as Sakka made his breakfast. "So what exactly is it?" Kiba hesitated.

"We're good enough friends to talk about…personal stuff, right?" Sakka nodded. "Ok, well there's this girl that doesn't let me feel normal around her. I think I…like her…" Kiba paused for a moment and saw Sakka look at him with, what looked like, no interest in it at all, "But of course, now that I think about it, I really don't like her! Thanks! I'll be going now!" Kiba rushed and stood up.

"Shut up and sit down! This is SERIOUS!" Kiba immediately sat back down, causing Akamaru to jump with surprise. "Ok, Kiba, we've known each other long enough to where I could basically tell you anything and not lie about it. This is one thing I'm not lying about…" There was a long silence as the air grew tenser around the two boys.

"You've GOT to tell me who this girl is before I can help you!" Sakka said, ruining the tense moment. Kiba groaned and whacked Sakka on the head.

"Well, It's…"Kiba said.

"Yes?"

"The girl I like, well, THINK I like is…"

"Yes?"

"I think it's…"

"GET ON WITH IT!"

"OK! I think I like REI!" Kiba yelled at him. Another long silence.

"You're out of her league!" Sakka said and carelessly started eating his bowl of cereal.

"Why do you think so? If anything, I'M out of her league!" Kiba retorted.

"One thing: Do NOT put yourself above the girl! The girl is the person that controls everything, it's ALL up to her! Oh, and, I think that because I know a few people that have their eyes set on her," Sakka said. Kiba stood up again, making his chair fall over. He thrust his hands on the table and looked at his friend seriously.

"I DEMAND to know who these people are!"

"What would you do with the information anyway? It's not like you like her or anything."

"HELL YEAH I DO!"

"Ok, are you done now? Now go! I'm still eating…" Sakka said. Kiba blinked in confusion. Slowly, he realized that Sakka helped him figure out the answer to the question he'd came to ask.

"Uh, thanks," Kiba said awkwardly, Come on Akamaru, it's about to rain." Akamaru followed Kiba outside and into the street. He was surrounded in his thoughts; until Akamaru pointed out that it was starting to rain.

He and Akamaru ran into the nearest open shop: Yamanaka's Flower Shop. The little bell tinkled above his head as he rushed in, dripping wet. The smell of flowers rushed at him. For a couple of seconds, he let it engulf him and take his worries away. Akamaru ran over to the nearest flower bed and sniffed at it. Kiba took off his soaked wet jacket and hung it on the cloak rack to dry. He wondered how long he was going to have to stay there until the rain went.

Kiba turned around and among all the scents; he smelt one that smelled even sweeter. He heard her tinkling voice at the cashier of the store. Obviously, she was buying flowers. What else could she be doing? He drew in breaths of the air around him. Before he noticed, a voice penetrated his thoughts.

"Kiba? What are you doing here?" Rei asked the boy. She was just heading out with some flowers. Kiba felt a slight blush cross over his cheeks. He thanked Kami that he had the red markings so that she couldn't see the difference.

"Uh, I'm just staying here until the rain passes," He spoke truthfully.

"Why wait?" Rei asked. Kiba studied her. She was leaning on one leg and held a bouquet of flowers that varied from colors to sizes. Her slim round shoulders hanging onto the frame of her body. He couldn't think of how any girl could have a better body than hers. The thing that caught his attention more than anything was her face. He loved how she smiled and even smirked at him. Her smile always held something deeper than just being polite, it held compassion and caring. Her eyes were so deep; he wishes he could stare into them all day. He at least hoped one day he could. He shook his head as he noticed Rei take a step towards him.

"What do you mean 'Why wait'?" Kiba asked her as she passed by him, opening the door. "Wait, do you mean…?"

"What else? You can't be afraid of the rain; life is too short for that," Rei said, and walked right into the pouring rain. She continued walking in the street. Kiba looked surprised and wondered about her. He always just rather prefers to stay out of the rain, but how she put it, there was really no reason to why not go in the rain? Let the rain do its job.

Kiba shoved his already drenched jacket on and picked up Akamaru. "Come on Akamaru…hey, Rei, wait up!" Kiba put Akamaru in his jacket and ran after Rei. Rei turned her head at him and smiled. Kiba caught up and could now see that she was holding the flowers under her jacket to keep them from getting wet.

"So why did you decide to come along?" Rei asked Kiba, turning back to the rode.

"Why? What you don't know can't hurt," Kiba said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Rei looked blankly at the ground. _Did I hurt her feelings or something? I should do something…_Kiba thought.

"Hey, do you want me to walk you home?" Kiba asked, surprised at how he got the guts to ask her. "_Huh? I thought we were going home!"_ Akamaru whined. Rei laughed.

"No, it's fine. I think Akamaru would rather go home," _Did she hear him? _

"Don't worry, I'm sure he won't mind!" Kiba said. Rei smiled at him. A few minutes past by as they walked.

"Well, if you want to walk me home, then we're going to have to go back and turn that corner we passed about a minute ago," Rei said. Kiba laughed. He truly liked having her a company.

They finally made it up to Sasuke's shared apartment and they both stood at the front step as Rei fumbled with the keys.

"So, you're still doing small missions?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, but it's because I keep screwing up," Kiba said. Rei chuckled. The door flung open and Rei went in. Kiba was about to turn when he noticed Rei still holding the door open. _What does she want to tell me?_

"Here! This will be a gift for keeping me company!" Rei cheerfully said and handed Kiba a blue lily. Kiba carefully took the lily. He swore if he did anything sudden, the flower would fall apart. Kiba gave her a quick smirk and thanks, then walked off.

Rei closed the door and went into the apartment. From Sasuke's room, she heard,

"Rei, who were you talking to?" Rei sat on the couch and put the reaming flowers into the flower vase, "Oh, it was nothing, just some person I know."


	14. What to do, Battle or Sleep?

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Chapter 14

What to do, Battle or Sleep?

"Sasuke, why are you always so quiet?" Rei asked her brother one morning as they ate breakfast together. The sun shone through the window and poured onto the ripe fruits in the middle of the table. You could see the little specks of dust drifting in the air that was alight. The scent in the air was of fresh hibiscus flowers. The apartment had dreary air to it, but Rei shone in the light as she brightened the room up with her talk.

"Why do you ask?" Sasuke countered, shoving some eggs in his mouth. Rei shrugged, "I don't know, it's just as if you never let anyone inside."

"Inside?"

"You know, let someone see the real you! As in, you don't let people get attached to you and you to them. Why?" Sasuke looked away, his elbows on the table, with his head resting on his hands.

"'if you want to kill me…curse me! Hate me! And live a long and unsightly life. Run away…run away…and cling to your pitiful life.'…These were some of the last words Itachi had told me right after he had slaughtered my family…our family," Rei gave Sasuke a serious look as she spoke her next words.

"And this is why? Do you not hate him? Do you not want to do everything he tells you to?" Sasuke lost it and jumped up, banging his hands on the tabletop.

"Of course I hate him! Every nerve in my body hates him for everything he is! He took so much from us! How can you not see this?" Sasuke yelled at her.

"Two things: Stop crying over spilt milk. What's done is done, and it's not as if you could've done anything about it-"

"Why do you not feel the will to kill him? I can still do something about it! He still slaughters people! Innocent people!"

"The second thing: If you hate him so much, why do you do as he tells you?" Rei asked, not losing any cool. Sasuke looked shocked. It now a cured to him: If he hates Itachi so much, then why does he do what Itachi told him to do that one uneventful day? He looked down, calming himself down.

"No…I do it for myself…" Rei slowly smiled at her brother. It was so fun for her to twist with men's' minds. Especially the Uchiha Sasuke's mind, even more when the out come is so interesting.

"Don't sweat it. It's not a big deal at the moment," Rei said, picking up the now empty dishes.

"How can you say that…?" Sasuke asked, calmly following her into the kitchen. Rei turned on the faucet and out came rushing water. She let the rushing water run through her hands as she washed the dishes with soap.

"Well, easy, I don't remember anything. I don't have anything against him since I don't know how he used to be like," Rei said calmly. There was a little pause as silence over took the room.

"Well then, I'll take you to…our old neighborhood," Sasuke said, smirking while leaning on his kitchen tabletop. Rei smiled back at him.

"We'll go first thing tomorrow!"

Kinu rolled over in her bed that morning. Her silky light blue hair was cast across her bed. She took in a breath of the familiar scent of home. It felt so good to be at home again. Her and her team had gone on a long series of missions that changed her drastically from when she left. She wondered about her forever rival, Tenten, Her crush, Neji, and most of all her family.

Kinu sat up in her bed, and with the bands on the tabletop, she put up her hair into its normal position._ What shall I do today? _She thought to herself, changing her clothes to something preppy put silky. Something that accented her light blue hair. _Maybe I should go challenge Tenten into a battle. Let's see how much she's improved from our last encounter! _

This thought exited her very much. After Kinu changed, she jumped out her window, not bothering to eat breakfast. With out knowing, that would be a mistake later…or maybe something that would be the best thing in her life…

_She was waving her hand at him from a little way off as she ran towards him. No one never shown this much eagerness to see him before. At least he knew that someone would be at his funeral if he died. _

"_Hey Rei," he said. Before he new it, he mentally kicked himself for sounding so mean and stupid. As if he could care less about her._

"_So, what are you and Akamaru doing?" The dark haired girl asked him, with that same sweet smile she always gave him so willingly. Wait…Akamaru…oh yeah…I'd better answer her._

"_I don't know really…why?" The boy asked her. The girl sighed, as if she was expecting something more. As if he had disappointed him somehow._

"_Really? Nothing you want to tell me…at all?" She asked him. The look on her face dropped his happiness, and some how felt her sorrow. What the heck? If he was ever going to do it, might as well it'd be now._

"_Well, actually, there kind of is…I think I…like you…" He could feel his cheeks burn._

"_Like as a friend, right?" she sighed again, "That's what I thought, not love?"_

"_Truthfully and really…I think I…love you." He replied. He prepared himself for anything she might try. Her face was unreadable until finally she ran- _

_BriIIIiiing! _Bring! Kiba cursed his alarm clock as he turned it off, about crushing it in the process. Why was it that his dreams always seem to end at the high point of it? Slowly, he felt the drool he left on the pillow. He hated it when he did that. He sat up and turned the pillow over. With the back of his hand, he wiped off the rest of the slobber around his mouth. _Why was I drooling? Is it normal to dream about crushes?_

He looked down at himself. His loosely worn jersey and his underwear. No, he didn't wear pants as he slept. That was one thing he hoped no one would know. It could mean black-mail, which was very common for people like Tenten or Naruto. If the information got into the wrong hands, it could mean a world of trouble for him.

Kiba looked up into the mirror of himself. His messy hair stood everywhere. _Why would someone so nice and pure like someone who looks messy all the time? He felt his chin. And my chin, that's another thing. It's so…so…pointy!_ Kiba sighed as his head dropped down. He cursed himself so much. Even though he only encountered Rei on three occasions, he thought that she probably didn't like him. The first encounter was…worse than not knowing her. The second was more relaxing and made up for the first, though it was kind of surprising about how much she knew about guys. The third was the best. The flower she had given him that day was now in a single decorated vase on his end table.

Kiba changed and slowly woke up his dog by scratching him behind the ear.

"Wake up, Akamaru! It's morning!" he said soothingly. Akamaru stirred and rose his head at Kiba. "What should we do now? I think we could afford a day with out training.." A thought entered his mind. _I wonder what kind of Jutsu Rei has!_ Perhaps, he'll go and ask her or talk to her today. He'll talk to her if only he wasn't so scared today…scared of rejection from her.


	15. An Awkward Meeting

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Chapter 15

An Awkward Meeting

The pink haired kunouchi walked up the steps to her crush's house. She heard only her foot steps and the birds chirping outside. Sakura was to inform Sasuke about a new mission. Sure, she could've used the phone and told him there, but this was one very small excuse to see him at his house. She wasn't going to pass up the chance.

Sakura walked down the hallway only to see a blonde dressed in purple while holding a rose, already at Sasuke's door. _What could Ino possibly want?_ The kunouchi thought as she walked up at her.

"Ino-pig! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked her. The blonde looked at her and static passed from eye to eye.

"I've come o ask if Sasuke-kun would like to come over for dinner!" Ino stuck her tongue out.

"Like he'll say yes! You know, if he says no then he's going to think your weirder than you already are!" Sakura shot back at her.

"I'm not weird!" Ino said, and then furiously knocked on the door. "I'll ask him! You'll see!"

From behind the door was the sound of moaning from someone just waking up.

"I'll get it!" came a voice from behind the door. "Just get dressed! It's probably for you!" Ino and Sakura looked at each other, already knowing what the other was thinking.

"It can't be..." Ino muttered. Sakura shook her head.

"No! Sasuke-kun could never!...Would he?" Sakura said and they both turned back at the door. The door knob slowly turned and someone pushed the door open. There stood Rei wearing a loose shirt, her hair sticking everywhere. She had the impression that last night was very exhausting, and she just woke up.

"Sakura, Ino! What is it? You want Uchiha?" She asked. She knew that calling him

"Uchiha" she was also referring to herself. Now she said it with pride and honor. Sakura slowly nodded and Rei started going back in. Before she went, Ino pulled on her arm. Rei turned her head around at the blonde. "What is it?"

"If you don't mind, can I ask you exactly WHY your at Sasuke-kun's house?" Rei repeated the phrase in her head before understanding what it asked. A slow realization crossed her face.

"Oh! Don't tell anyone I'm here, ok? Don't worry! We'll explain it to you as soon as we can!" and she tore from Ino's grasp and toward Sasuke's bedroom. "Uchiha, it's your two fan girls at the door," She said from outside his locked door.

"Ugh...one second..." her brother said as he shifted in his sheets and pulled on some clothes.

After making Ino and Sakura wait a little while, Sasuke came to the door. It was obvious he just woke up.

"Sakura, Ino? What is it?" He said, leaning against the side of the doorway. What could they possibly want? Sakura opened her mouth and Ino rudely interrupted her, while moving in front of her.

"Sasuke-kun! I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house for dinner! My mom cooks the best meals!" Ino proudly and confidently asked. Sasuke scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, actually, I have other plans already. Maybe later?" Sasuke said. Ino took this as a 'yes' for later.

"Ok! I'll ask you later and we can have dinner together!" She said and pranced off. Sasuke wished Sakura talked to him first. She might have made Ino get tired of waiting. She always explained a lot about things. He sighed in relief when the last of the blonde kunouchi's hair was out of sight.

"Ok Sakura, I'm all ears," Sasuke said looking straight into her emerald eyes. He could feel he was staring but he didn't really think she'd notice. Or at least, he hoped not.

"Kakashi-sensei said that we have another mission tomorrow and it might be a bit long. He sent me to tell you," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded and stood there looking at her. There was a slight silence.

"Is there something else?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. She would've left by now. Sakura shuffled her feet and looking past his shoulder.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, why is Rei here? You two aren't...you know...," Sakura nervously said. Sasuke mentally finished her question. His eyes slightly widened said, "No." He wished he hadn't said it so coldly. Like he always did. "Well, if I tell you why, swear not to tell anyone?"

"I swear!" Sakura hurridly said. Sasuke leaned close to her and her heart pounded. Was this...? Sasuke re-directed his head and whispered in her ear, "You DO know about my clan, right? Well, me and my brother aren't the only remaining Uchihas."

Sakura gasped. "You mean Rei is your-," Sasuke covered the kunouchi's mouth. Sakura felt her body freeze to feel Sasuke's cold hand on her mouth. How could his hands be so cold? She suddenly felt the urge to hug him, and try to at least warm him just a little. This sensation over came her.

"Don't tell anyone, remember?" Sasuke whispered in her ear before letting go. Sakura couldn't muster up anything to say to him, so she nodded and trailed off. Sasuke rolled his eyes and went back into his- no, Rei and his, apartment. "Are you ready yet?"

Kitei wandered down the corridors of his clan's house. His robes brushed against the floor as he walked by. Since he came back home, he had changed into robes. He wasn't planning on anything like missions or anything that involved him to leave indoors. Kitei looked to his right so that he looked into the little courtyard.

Weather was really nice. The morning due sparkled in the sunlight. The warm air combed through his hair. Kitei took in a lungful of the momentary peace he had found. Without telling anyone, he started walking through the little courtyard and out into the vast forest.

He came across his favorite place in Konoha' surrounding forest. To get there, you would have to walk off the path for several minutes, then you would stumble into his little get-away. The swaying trees above him, the calm stream next to him, and the sound of the little waterfalls that came down the stream, he could spend hours there at a time and often did. He liked to call this place Serenity.

Kitei gracefully sat down in a little grove of a nearby tree and watched the stream rush by. This was the thing he missed about his home, and the first thing he wanted to do when he was free. Now he could, and probably as long as he wants.

"Aaaaah," he sighed in relief, "Perhaps now I can relax. Nothing can compare to this...," Kitei listened and observed his surroundings, feeling his eye bags slowly drop. He didn't fight, and let himself fall into a peaceful slumber.

He awoke to the sound of birds flying from the tree he was sleeping under. Kitei slowly looked around thinking something must be amiss. He glanced over the stream to see that something was twinkling at him. It could've been the stream itself, but something was peculiar seeing that none of the rest of the stream sparkled.

Kitei reached over for it and dipped his hand in the glassy water. He felt something hard, and cold. Feeling around for something of the item to grab on, he picked it up and examined it. It was a very interesting piece. It was round and about the size of his palm. and it took the shape as a shell, but it was gold. He opened the little lid it had and saw two arrows pointing in different directions. _Of course, it was a compass._ Kitei rubbed his thumb against the lid of the compass and saw a name imprinted in it. _Modenta Seija_.


	16. Lost Memories

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Chapter 16

Lost Memories

Uchiha Sasuke crawled through the gate of his clan's former compound. Followed by his sister, he edged towards the old place he used to call home. The umbrella in front of the entrance still was in the ground, though now it toppled over from years exposed to winds and any other natural cause. He glanced down at the little flower beds on the side of the wall. They were still blooming. Sasuke remembered helping his mother plant them. He would always end up getting himself covered in dirt.

Rei stood dead silent behind her brother. She could tell by the silence and how he was gazing at the flowers in bloom that he was deep in his past already. To her disappointment, she still couldn't remember anything about her childhood. She hesitated, but then put her hand reassuringly on his shoulder. Rei didn't expect him to do anything. So you can imagine that she was a little shocked when Sasuke put his hand on hers. Rei smirked as they continued walking into the building.

Sasuke walked without a sound, Rei doing the same. The only thing they could hear was the soft rustle of the trees outside and the crows calling out. She glanced at all the old dusty furniture that was left.

"Recognize anything?" Sasuke turned his head at Rei. She sighed and shook her head. Sasuke reached over and lightly swept his fingers over the kitchen counter. "My…erm, our mother used to cook here all the time. You tried to cook once and got burnt. Even when you got burned, you didn't cry though. You kind of just…sat there looking at the burn, oblivious to how much it hurt. You know…I don't think I've ever seen you cry."

Rei shyly looked at him and changed the topic as she saw that the refrigerator had old papers being hung by magnets on it. She walked over to it and lightly took the papers down, and then blew on one. It struck her like blinding light;

_There a younger Rei sat, drawing on a paper with what else? Crayons! It was stick like but very sweet all the same. Currently she was drawing a tall person that was at the end of the "family picture." The room was in a tatami mat style and she was drawing on the table. That's when a younger version of Sasuke walked in and towards her._

"_Whatcha drawin Rei?" He asked. Rei looked up at him and said,_

"_A picture of our family! You can draw too! Here's a piece of paper!" and then she handed him a sheet. Sasuke was reluctant to sit down and DRAW. I mean, that's a wussy thing right?_

"_You should be training! ESPECIALLY if you want to be like Itachi-niisan!" Sasuke retorted._

"_But I AM training! Besides, I don't WANT to be like Itachi-san," Rei said as she put the sheet of paper back down._

"_For what?"_

"_BOTH an artist AND a kunouchi!"_

"_How can drawing be anything useful for a kunouchi?"_

"_BECAUSE I'm gonna make up this jutsu and it has to do with drawing! AND it helps creativity which you can use during missions on what to do when your in a tight situation AND it steadies your hand and makes it less shaky when you do delicate things like throwing needles precisely and it's just overall a good way to express your feelings!" Rei stated, though the only thing she meant true was the jutsu part. Sasuke remained quiet. Rei looked down at her paper and continued drawing. After a couple of moments in silence, Sasuke looked back down at the blank paper in front of him. He looked away from Rei as he sat down and took a crimson red crayon._

Rei looked at the dusty picture, feeling a little feint. She held that charming little picture. HER charming little picture. She toppled onto one of the remaining chairs and looked up at Sasuke.

"What? What just happened?" Sasuke asked as he came over to his sister and glanced at what she was holding. "Do you remember anything?"

"YUP! Just a little though. Just when I drew this and convinced you to draw something too," she replied. Sasuke showed a hint of a smile, "Well, you should keep looking at those then."

The rest of that day went on like that. Rei kept remembering and eventually remembered almost all her past life. Sasuke helping her clear up her memories more. Telling her the things she doesn't remember.

Kitei continued visiting Serenity in hope of finding a clue about his mysterious person. He kept repeating the person's name over and over in his head. _Modenta Seija. _He wouldn't tell anyone about the compass, for whenever he found something important and told his family they'd always say, "Really? Well, don't worry about it, we'll take over," and that's exactly what they did leaving Kitei out, not even bothering to tell him the outcome. There was only one clue he found. That the person was a little older than him. He could tell this from the footprints along the river after he had found the compass, but by the time he used Byakugan, the person was nowhere in sight. He didn't lose hope though. Sooner or later, the person would have to be nearby there again, right?

All in the meanwhile, Kotetsu was in the academy, in the room where each shinobi in the village took their missions and finished them. He was looking through the C rank missions. I mean, his team has to be tired of D rank missions, right?

He got an approval by Hokage to be able to look through the missions himself. To personally pick what they'd go on. Kotetsu was setting aside a mission about a loose tiger sent in by the mist, when the doors opened and someone walked in. Kotetsu looked up and saw the strict teacher of team 11: Anko.

"Hello, Anko," Kotetsu greeted her. Anko strode towards him, giving the impression that she was there to do the same thing.

"Kotetsu? What're you doing here?" she asked him.

"Same reason you are, I presume," He replied.

"Yes, if your looking for a more challenging mission," Anko said as Kotetsu pushed aside another scroll. He then nodded and gestured to the pile of scrolls he'd already looked through. Anko sighed_. If those many D-rank missions aren't challenging, then I might just take a B-rank...this is going to take a while_ she thought as she sat down in an extra seat across from Kotetsu.

The two searched through the scrolls, and even glanced at some B-rank missions. The clock ticked by until a while later. The day slowly drew into night when they had finally narrowed their selection of missions down to a mere two. One for both, but there was slight problem. Kotetsu reached for the mission he preferred, but so did Anko. Normally, Kotetsu would let her take it, but compared to the other one, his team would have serious complaints about it. So all that time of searching would be for nothing.

"Er, Anko, if you wouldn't mind if I could have this one?" Kotetsu asked, holding up the scroll in the middle of the desk.

"Sorry Kotetsu, but my team will for sure complain if I get the other," Anko said, but even if she said it politely, Kotetsu knew she wouldn't let go of it. After she made up her mind, she's made up her mind. They stared at each other, thinking of a way to solve this problem. The one lamp flickered on and off above their head as crickets played their songs outside. Kotetsu knew that something had come alight in Anko's head as she slowly smirked, giving him a challenging look.

"Yes, Anko?" he asked.

"Why fight over this mission? Why not...share it?" and finally Kotetsu realized that she was challenging him a race.

"You mean, we both take up the mission, and see who can finish it first?" he asked.

"Yup! And whoever loses, means that they don't get the reward money, so it would just be a whole waste of time!" Anko said. Kotetsu considered her suggestion, then held out his hand,

"But remember, this is just friendly competition, right?"

"Yup," Anko chipped, "Just friendly competition." and she shook Kotetsu's hand of which held the scroll. _Your completely right, Kotetsu, this is just some friendly competition..."friendly" alright..._


	17. Bonding Time

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Chapter 17

"Bonding" Time

Sachino Hari walked back to her house from her meeting on the bridge. She wasn't in a good mood really, for she woke up much too early. Her jounin sensei, Anko, had come up to her house and started knocking on her door. Of course, Hari just turned over and tried to tune her out. She underestimated how determined Anko could get, of which she regrets doing. After shutting Anko out and falling into a light slumber, Anko had jumped up to her window and managed to get into the room. Then...well, let's say Anko wasn't very happy about being ignored.

Hari, like as said, wasn't all that happy either. Especially when she found out that the reason she was torn from her house, not to mention in her night down, and onto a bridge just so her and her team would know that they were going on a long mission and would be the hardest they've gotten so far, and that they should start packing for their descent later in the day. She felt the gentle morning breeze come from the north, and glanced over her shoulder to see the sun just now peek over the horizon.

"Today's going to be a long day," she muttered to herself.

Kako had woken up hours before daylight, and had been reflecting on his life. Even questioned his goal in life. _Was it really worth it? _He thought as he hid in a tall tree overlooking the area of where he had officially graduated and Kotetsu had passed his team. What other teams have graduated, anyway?

He hopped down and paced his way to his little apartment. He fumbled with the keys when he heard his phone ringing throughout the apartment and passing through the cracks of his door. Kako pushed on the door and rushed to the phone. He sighed in relief as he heard a voice, signaling that he made it in time.

"Hello?" The crackly voice said through the phone.

"Hi, who's this?"

"Kotetsu, can I speak to Kako?"

"Speaking, what is it Kotetsu-sensei?"

"A mission. We're leaving today in about three hours, and we're going to be gone for maybe a couple of days, so you might want to pack up some things and tell your friends or family that you'll be gone for a while,"

"Got it, so what rank is the mission?"

"A C-rank mission,"

"Really? What about?"

The next words came out after a hesitation, but sounded quite forbidding especially coming from Kotetsu's mouth,

"Ghosts"

"Ghosts?" Sakka guessed, "It could be about something creepy like ghosts." Team 11 had arrived at the entrance of their village, Konoha, at the supposed time. All had arrived other than the most important person, Anko, and the three man cell had been getting a little restless waiting for her.

Hari shivered at the idea of a mission like THAT. That as in hunting for ghosts, going through old dusty basements, or even worse:

"Maybe we'd get cursed," she managed to say, her statement was clear with obvious fear. Chiro flicked his hand at Hari.

"There's no possible way that it would be about ghosts. Our village only takes missions worth going on," Chiro said, putting his hands on his hips.

"What are you talking about 'only takes missions worth going on'? Are you saying that ghosts aren't real?" Sakka accused at Chiro.

"Course ghosts are real!" came a female voice. The three turned their heads to see Rei smiling at them, along side Jin. A gust of wind swept past them as Hari saw Jin in a way she never has. She could hear the soft tune playing as he glided up to them. His hair swayed in a way she haven't seen, making him more secretive than she thought. The little spark of feelings for him re-lit and grew, grew to a more than she could even imagine.

Jin had noticed Hari giving him a look. He wasn't sure of what kind it was, but it wasn't something he's ever seen a girl give him. It made his insides twist and he could quietly hear his ragged breathing becoming rougher. He quickly turned away, for he wasn't accustomed to this new sensation.

"So, what are you two doing here?" Sakka asked. Rei cocked her head and decided that there was no harm in telling them, _right?_

"Kotetsu-sensei called us here for a mission!" She chipped.

"Really? Our sensei called us here for that, too!"

"Cool! What kind of mission?"

"Dunno yet, she just said that it might take a while,"

"Same here!" Rei said, getting excited. _Maybe we're both going to the same village!_

Kako watched his two team mates come to a slow realization that something was a little too coincidental. He sat in a nearby tree, safe from the broad daylight and relaxed in the calm shade. The moment his jounin showed up, he would confront him and ask him what exactly was going on.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Kotetsu-sensei! What's our mission?" Rei happily asked, but then saw Hari saying at the same time, she looked over and there was Anko behind Kotetsu. "Eeerrr….?" Rei tilted her chin at Anko. Kako decided to join the now growing crowd.

"What's going on?" He asked the moment he touched the ground. Normally, someone jumping down like that wouldn't bother Rei or Hari, but its how he did. For girls, like Hari, or anime lovers, like Rei, they would notice the coat and sparkles floating around him. It was like the guy from the heavens above. His face looked like it was delicately made from the hands of an angel, but the thing that really triggered them was his flowing long coat that softly waved in the wind. There was only one word for people like this:

"Bishounen," The two girls said in unison. Kotetsu opened his mouth to speak,

"Do I want to know…?"

"Kotesu-sensei, times have changed since you were our age. The kind of guys girls want are now men with long hair, and are very feminine, and of which hide dark secrets. These people are what girls call 'Bishounens', or 'Bishies' for short," Jin explained, scratching the back of his head, then sighing. Anko whispered in Kotetsu's ear, making the back of his spine stiffen.

"Should I tell them?" she asked in a softer tone than normal. Kotetsu just nervously smiled and nodded. Anko smirked devilishly and turned to the six genins, giving the air of a commanding officer. The students stiffened and turned to attention. "Ok, I bet all of you now realize that it's not just a coincidence that we're all meeting at the same place, same purpose, same time, so I'll just come straight forward," she paused and looked at the faces staring at her. She was pleased, "Our two teams will be going on the same mission!"

Even Kotetsu had to recoil as the bursts of questions thrust forward. He glanced at Anko. She was totally unfazed, actually, it looked quite the opposite, she seemed like she was enjoying it. He shook his head. Anko was one person he couldn't start to understand.

"Ok!" Anko yelled and the only thing that could be heard was the soft rustling of the leaves drifting by, "Heres the details; Our two teams will race to see who can get the mission done first, and make it back successfully. So that means whatever the reward money, only one team will take it, and for the other…well, they've just wasted some time." She smirked than nodded at Kotetsu.

"Erm," he stammered, "The mission itself is one taking place in the waterfall village. Some of the villagers think there's a ghost haunting them. We're suppose to go and check it out, see if there is a ghost, and if so, figure out what's behind it. We don't know the details ourselves, but we'll figure out what's going on when we get there, agreed?" Kotetsu finished with a friendly smiled, letting the genins relax a little more.

"Yeah, and this would be good 'bonding time' for our two teams!" Anko added in.

"Everyone ready?" Kotetsu asked.

"We've been for a while" Sakka rolled his eyes. Another gust blew by as everyone gradually turned to head out. There was a variety of emotions flowing through everyone as well as thoughts. Hari was anxious to be working close to Jin, _I'll show him I'm strong and cute! _Some others saw it as a pain, but there were two that seemingly seemed to be very anxious, even if their legs shook and they faked smiles, but both felt the same about these new events: Excited.


End file.
